Secrets
by Aquaknite
Summary: HS fic. Naruto, fighter and playboy has pushed his friends away. Sakura hates him...in the beginning. What dark secret is Naruto hiding, and who is this transfer student staying with him and what secrets does she hold? NaruSaku GaaraOCC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else that is used in my story, sadly. However, the character Kaiah is one that I made up with my own imagination.

Note: Everyone looks the same as in the show; just picture them in modern clothes. Doing some description of clothing and etc, but not too much. Imagine what you would like on them.

Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki is considered one of the best martial artists in Japan. At age 18, standing at an even 6 foot with spiky blonde locks, ocean blue eyes, and a lean and muscular body, he is very popular with the girls. This is why at Konoha High he is considered the biggest playboy around. Naruto loves the girls as much as they love him. It wasn't unusual to see in surround by a flock of girls that he had meet on one of his tournaments. And at this moment, Naruto was trying really hard to stay awake in class after his long and adventurous night with a very cute red head that he had meet at his latest tournament. '8 o'clock was just too early to start lessons; there should be a law passed that school can't start before 10' he thought yawing. However, at that moment Sakura Haruno walked into class with her one of her friends, Ino Yamanaka, looking as stunning as ever with her shoulder length pink hair up in chopsticks, her jeans hugging her every curve and a red, v-neck tank top. Now Naruto was wide awake! Sakura had only been at Konoha High for a few months now, but had been quick to make friends….. and a few stalkers. As she made her way to her desk, she saw Naruto eyeing her intently, nearly drooling. "Ugh" She groaned as she rolled her eyes.

It was going to be another long day dodging the pervert. Sakura and Ino took their seats near the back of the class with her other friends; Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Lee, Sasuke, Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Tenten, and Temari (all whom participate in martial arts for the school as well). Naruto use to be a part of this little group, until he turned jerk and started sleeping with any and every girl. Thankfully, at that moment Anko-sensei entered to start class, thus causing Naruto to turn away from Sakura and focus on the front of the room; Naruto, even as a player, was serious about his education, making him, not only the hottest guy in school, but the top student in their class. However, even after class had started, Naruto would steal glances at Sakura every now and then and wink at her. He just made her sick! He had a different girl each week, and sometimes multiple girls. Even though the girls knew he was a player, they still lined up to have their turn with him. He had been trying to work his charm on her and get her to accompany him on a date. He thought that he was so irresistible! Well, she was going to prove him wrong! And this stubbornness is what truly attracted Naruto to Sakura. He had never meet another girl like her, and actually preferred the chase compared to free giving girls. But still, who was he to turn down an offer when it was knocking on his door.

Usually, before school was over, Naruto would have tormented Sakura to death by asking her out about a thousand times or by making steady advances that would result in a nice red hand print over his cheek. However, the day had passed seemingly without any interruptions from the pervert. Sakura was elated to find that she had successfully made it through her day without having to pound the idiotic blond into a pulp. With a triumphant grin on her face, Sakura put her books into her locker and closed the door.

"AAAGGGHHH!" she screamed as soon as she shut the locker door.

The lecherous blonde had appeared out of nowhere from behind the door.

"What the hell!" she yelled as she punched the blonde in the arm. He just knew how to push her buttons didn't he!

"Oww! What was that for!" he whined, rubbing his arm.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack you idiot! I've told you before, stop sneaking up on me like that!" She shouted as she shook her fist in Naruto's face. Naruto just held his hands up in defeat and chuckled.

"What do you want anyway? And no I'm not going on a date with you." Sakura shot daggers at Naruto with her eyes, arms folded over her chest.

"Actually, I wasn't going to ask that, I just wanted to see if I could walk home with you" Sakura raised her eyebrow at this. "Really, that's all. I figured that we could walk together since we live in the same neighborhood and maybe even discuss our literature paper along the way." He stated. Sakura just looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What?........... Come on Sakura, I'm not a perv all the time."

"Oh really, could've fooled me." She said rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" he pouted. "Give me a chance. It's just a walk home. I promise that I'll keep my hands to myself."

Sakura almost laughed at the pout that adorned his face. _The_ Naruto Uzumaki, actually having to beg for a girl's attention; it was a sight to behold. "Alright. Fine. But like you said, hands to yourself." Sakura finally gave in.

"WhooHooo!" Naruto shouted with glee, punching the air with his fist and a wide cheesy grin on his face.

That pout was almost irresistible. Almost.

Sakura actually found the blonde rather enjoyable as they walked home. They laughed and joked, talked about books, movies, their literature paper, and even about some of the martial arts matches coming up (Ino had actually convinced her to join after she had nearly punched Naruto through a wall). He hadn't said one perverted thing along the way, and true to his word, he had kept his hands to himself. Naruto wouldn't be so bad if he acted like this all the time.

"Earth to Sakura!" Temari said waving her hand in front of Sakura's face.

"What? Oh, sorry. Spaced out there for a bit." Sakura said as she was pulled from her thoughts of her walk home with Naruto.

"Geez, girl. How are we gonna finish our song if you keep going all spacey on us?" asked Temari, tapping her finger on the kitchen table they were sitting at.

Sakura had gone over to Temari's house after finishing her homework that afternoon. She played the keyboard for a little band that the girls had been getting together, so Sakura along with Ino, Hinata, TenTen, and Temari gathered once a week at Temari's house to jot down notes and words for potential songs and to even practice some. Temari's house was very comfortable, traditional with all the natural elements of Japan, and a lot of red. After throwing ideas around for another ten minutes, a tall red head walked into the kitchen sporting kaki jeans and a burgundy polo shirt, grabbed a canned drink and proceeded out the front door.

"Where are you goin Gaara?" asked Temari before he could escape.

"To Naruto's" he simply stated, and shut the door. Temari just shook her head, "I don't understand how he can still hang out with Naruto. He's the total opposite of Naruto, well now anyways. "

"Well, they've been best friends since playschool. It's almost unnatural to see one without the other." stated Tenten.

"But still, since Naruto went all jerk on us, I figured that Gaara would have backed off too." said Ino.

"You know that Naruto thinks of Gaara as the brother that he never had. Gaara's the only one that Naruto's actually let get really close to him." stated Hinata.

"Yeah, I know." said Temari with a hint sadness.

"Why's that?" Sakura asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh that's right, I keep forgetting you're the new girl." said Ino. "Better grab a drink and some snacks, this might take a while" she said as she got up to start grabbing some snacks, their music forgotten for the night.

As Sakura left about 2 hours later, she was torn. She didn't know what to think about Naruto. Part of her wanted to feel sorry for him, but another part was furious about how he had treated his friends when they only wanted to help. Mostly, she was confused. Naruto was an orphan, and when he was 5 Iruka Umino, a friend of his father's, had adopted him. Naruto's parents had been murdered in front of his eyes. His father had locked him in a closet to keep him safe from the intruders that had come after them. However, for Naruto, he had watched the entire thing from the key hole in the door. For a long time he wouldn't speak to anyone, not even Iruka. Later that year, Gaara and his older brother Kankuro and his younger sister Temari had moved to the area. Kankuro's mom had left them years ago, so their Dad began to see Gaara's mother and eventually they were married. Gaara's mother had been killed by a pick pocket while the both of them had been shopping, and Garra had to watch the whole thing. Gaara's dad remarried a couple years later, and Temari was born. Gaara then began to display violent behavior, and this lead to the family's move. Gaara's father had hoped that the move would help Gaara heal. Kankuro and Temari still had a mom, and could never even begin to understand what he had witnessed, so Gaara started to isolate himself from everyone, feeling that no could understand his pain. He had flunked 2 grades (making him a 20 year old senior) because he was always getting into fights, but then he met Naruto. Eventually, Gaara and Naruto began to open up to each other a little, and when they found that they had so much in common, a strong brotherly friendship had been born. Naruto and Gaara slowly began to warm up to others and soon had many friends. Naruto was very kind and had a very outgoing personality, and they all had gone together and started doing martial arts. However, Naruto turned 16, and after that day everything changed. Naruto began to seclude himself, and his friends tried to find out what had happened and help, but he just turned into a complete jerk and pushed everyone but Gaara away. Then he started to go girl crazy. He had sunk so low that they became disgusted by his transformation, and since then they haven't spoken much, unless it was in the form of insults. Naruto was very popular now and would hang around with the party crowd some, but he mostly kept to himself with Gaara by his side.

The next few weeks went by the same as always, with a few minor changes. Sakura hung out with her friends, and they came up with some pretty good songs. Sakura was also walking home with Naruto every day after school when he didn't have martial arts practice. She found the blonde's presence to be rather enjoyable, and had started to actually look forward to their walks home together. They still bickered, he was still a perv (although that had begun to slacken off some to her surprise), and she still hit him, but that was only around others. Naruto acted like a completely different person when it was just the two of them. He was very intelligent and always seemed to be deep in thought. After Sakura had heard Naruto's story from her friends, she had made it her mission to find out what had happened to make him change to such an extreme. They had chatted about personal things, mostly about her, but Naruto never divulged too much information about himself. Day by day, she found herself more and more attracted to Naruto. After getting to know more about the real Naruto, Sakura was able to notice his physical characteristics. Today as they walked down the sidewalk, she just couldn't help but stare. Wearing baggy blue jeans, a white tank top that hugged his muscular chest and an orange button down shirt that was open with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, Sakura just couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was HOT! Oh no! She just did not go there! Did she? As Sakura was mentally arguing with herself Naruto eyed her suspiciously.

"Ummm…Sakura?"

'I can't believe that we just went there.' 'Why he's totally hot, and you like him.' 'Do not!' 'Do too'

"Sakura?" Naruto said as he inched closer to her face.

"Yikes!" she yelped as she tripped, startled by Naruto's face in front of hers.

Sakura skidded across the sidewalk on her right knee, causing a good amount of blood to begin seeping through the wound.

"Sakura! Are you alright? Here let me take a look!" Naruto knelt beside Sakura gently placing his right hand under the bend of her knee and leaned forward for a better look.

Sakura flushed at the contact. As Naruto ran his hand over her knee, shivers shook through her body, making her feel a little light headed and dizzy at the contact.

After Naruto had examined her knee, he stood up and extended his hand to help Sakura up as he said "Come on. Let's get you home so we can get that cleaned up before it gets infected."

Sakura took his offered hand, but as soon as she put pressure on her knee she fell forward into his chest. Naruto placed his hands under her elbows to steady her as she slowly look up into his face. Her breath hitched in her throat when she met his eyes, their noses almost touching. Naruto was beside himself, trying to keep control of the urge to capture her lips with his. As they stared at each other, the air between them became heavy, and Sakura felt herself drawn into his bright blue eyes. Slowly, unconsciously, their faces moved towards each other. They were almost there, when Naruto was the first to recover. He pulled back and placed his right hand on her upper back and his left under the bends of her knees and slowly lifted her bridal style.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelped as she was snapped back to reality.

"What?" he asked innocently.  
"Put me down." Sakura growled as her cheeks flushed.

"What, so you can just fall again and bust open your other knee. I don't think so." He said as he started walking towards her house.

Knowing that she had lost the battle, and finding Naruto's strong body comforting, she grumbled half heartily "Fine. But keep your hands right where they are."

"Okay, Okay." He chuckled.

When they reached Sakura's house, no one was home, so Naruto carried Sakura to her bathroom and placed her gently on the toilet. Sakura sat there looking like a bright red cherry as Naruto rummaged the cabinets looking the peroxide and band aids. After he found what he needed, he carefully cleaned Sakura's wound. As Sakura sat there, she felt a tingle coarse through her body from Naruto's soft touches and his close proximity. Soon both of their breathing was a little heavy, and Naruto began to gently caress the area around her knee as he finished up, causing Sakura to suppress a shudder. Slowly, Naruto leaned forward and placed a slow, soft kiss on the now bandaged knee. Sakura's eyes fluttered shut and Naruto, fighting a mental war, wanted to do nothing more than to take her right then and there.

However, Naruto rose from his crouched position saying "Alright. It should be okay now."

Sakura nodded as she followed Naruto to the front door, slightly embarrassed.

" I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school." He grinned as he made his way out the door.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow. Thanks Naruto" she said as he walked away.

"No problem. Later" he waved as he made his way to his own home.

As Sakura closed the door and leaned against it, she touched the bandage that Naruto had placed. Naruto walked with his hands in his pockets, and at the same moment both looked up and exclaimed out loud "Just what the hell are you doing to me."

Naruto was still deep in thoughts as he made his way into his house.

"Hey Naruto" a cheerful Iruka exclaimed as he came into the living room.

"You're mighty peppy today. What's up?" laughed Naruto. Naruto loved Iruka just like a father, and whenever Iruka was happy, it thrilled Naruto. Ever since the incident at his 16th birthday, Iruka had become a little depressed and down, so seeing him cheerful truly made him happy.

"Not much. Got someone I want you to meet." Iruka grinned.

"Really, who is it." teased Naruto, with a little smirk.

"Get your head out of the gutter, it's nothing like that." Iruka said as they both began laughing.

"So who is it then?"

"Well, you know that your school does the transfer student thing and I volunteered to host the transfer student this year." Iruka said, excited. Iruka has always loved kids and helping people, so to have the transfer student stay at his house was very exciting for him.

"That's great!" exclaimed Naruto, but in the back of his mind 'Great, someone else I have to worry about.' But he wasn't about to voice his concern. He hadn't seen Iruka this happy in a while, and he be darned if he ruined it.

"Come on up, she's in her room unpacking, I want you to meet her." Iruka tugged on Naruto's arm.

"Her?!" asked Naruto, getting a little panicked. 'A girl… staying here… with us?! This can't be a good thing!'

Iruka knocked on the door and a feminine voice sounded from the other side, "Come in."

They entered, and Naruto froze as striking blue eyes met his.

"Kaiah, this is my son, Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka introduced.

"Hi!" she said sweetly as she extended her hand to shake Naruto's. "I'm Kaiah Somerset. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Like wise." Naruto shook her hand as he discreetly examined her. She was about 5'6, looked athletic, her heart shaped faced framed with dark brown hair falling in waves to her waist, which intensified the blue of her eyes, and she wore snug blue jeans and a teal, flowing tank top. Her name suited her, rare beauty indeed. And she had one heck of a grip!

"Kaiah will be with us until the end of the school year." said Iruka as Naruto stepped back.

"Wow, you look just like my little brother!" exclaimed Kaiah with excitement.

Naruto just giggled at her remark, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well that's interesting. Maybe your stay here will feel more like home after all." stated Iruka. "Now while you're here, you're family. So feel free to be yourself."

"Oh, I will." Kaiah smiled and looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eye, which made Naruto flinch. Naruto caught the mischievous glint in her eye as she smiled, giving Naruto the impression of an imp, which sent chills down his spine. What the hell had Iruka gotten him into?!

**Well, there's the first chapter. Who is Kaiah, and what does she have planned for Naruto? Review please, and let me know what you think so far. Will post again soon if I get some good reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything else. Kaiah is a character that I made up with my own imagination.

Chapter 2

'Monday, great.' Naruto thought, sighing. He was absolutely dreading the day. It was Kaiah's first day and he knew that somehow he would end up being her babysitter. Naruto and Kaiah had all weekend to get to know each other a little, but Kaiah was very reserved. Naruto didn't really learn much about her except that she was from the southern part of American, she like to hunt and fish and had a nice collection of guns and bows, was a bit naggy, and was feisty as hell. So far, he didn't really like her, which was strange because he like all beautiful girls. There was something different about this girl, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He got dressed and went downstairs to grab a pop-tart and a glass of orange juice. Kaiah was already there, sipping on some green tea.

"Good morning" she said cheerily.

Naruto just grunted.

"Well… I don't know how things work here, but where I come from when someone speaks to you, you speak back." She replied.

"Fine. Good morning. You happy now?" He said, biting into his pop-tart.

"Yes, that's much better." She said grinning.

Naruto was saved from losing his tempter as the door bell rang. He walked to the door finishing his breakfast.

"Hey." He greeted Gaara and Sakura, sulking back into the house.

"Man, what's up with you today." Gaara asked and Sakura looked at Naruto.

"New roommate." Naruto replied.

They were about to ask Naruto what he meant when they heard the voice of a girl call from the kitchen, "Naruto!"

"What!" Naruto yelled back.

"Where's my book bag!?"

"It's in here by the door!" he shouted rolling his eyes.

Kaiah then came out of the kitchen, wearing her jeans and a baby blue quarter sleeved button down shirt that hugged her curves.

Gaara was, to say the least, stunned, mouth open slightly.

Sakura was… she couldn't quite understand the feeling that she felt at the moment.

'Girl, you are so jealous.' Inner Sakura snickered.

'What! Over Naruto?! No way!' Sakura denied.

'Yeah, whatever honey. Keep denying it all you want.' Inner Sakura smirked.

'Oh just shut up. There's no way that I like that perv!"

"Oh. Hi! You must be Gaara and Sakura!" Kaiah exclaimed, extending a hand to greet each of them.

"Yeah." Naruto said. "Guys, this is Kaiah Somerset. She's a transfer student from America. She'll be staying here until the end of the school year."

"Really?" Sakura said, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"That's cool." Gaara said. "Well, we better get going guys or we're gonna be late."

"Alright, let's go." said Naruto as he grabbed his books.

'This is going to be a long day.' He sighed as they all walked out the door.

School was relatively uneventful, and to Naruto's happiness Kaiah had not bothered him all day even though she was placed in all the same classes that he had. However, that afternoon he had martial arts practice and couldn't walk Kaiah home, which posed a problem.

"Hey Sakura?" Naruto said as he walked up to the girl's locker.

"No, I'm not going on a date with you." She replied, head still in her locker.

"Ummm…well that's not what I was going to ask." He said rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Huh? Well what do you want then?"

"Well I got practice after school and Gaara left early for a doctor's appointment, so there's no one to show Kaiah how to get back to the house, and I was wondering if you would do me a huge favor and walk her home?" said Naruto.

Sakura just glared at him.

"Come on! Please Sakura?! Iruka would kill me if Kaiah got lost! Please?" Naruto begged, putting on his little pout.

Sakura sighed "Alright. Fine. But you owe me."

"Thanks Sakura. You're the best. Catch ya later!" and then he was off.

Sakura walked out of the school to find Kaiah waiting patiently at the end of the sidewalk.

"Hi." She said as she walked up.

"Oh, hi again." Kaiah smiled at her.

"Well, Gaara left early and Naruto has martial arts practice, so I guess it's just you and me." Sakura said.

"That's cool." Kaiah said as they started walking.

The trip was silent until about half way through.

"So…" Sakura said "You're staying with Naruto until the end of the school year huh?"

"Yep. Should be real exciting" Kaiah said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" replied Sakura, feeling a ting of anger. "You don't like it here?"

"No, it's not that, it's Naruto." Kaiah stated.

Sakura just glared at her as she rambled on.

"He's so freaking hot, but annoying as hell. I try to talk to him, but he just brushes me off. Then sometimes he acts like such a jerk." Kaiah rambled.

Sakura felt that feeling from the morning resurface, along with anger. 'How dare she call our man hot!' Inner Sakura fumed.

'That's not the issue here, how dare she judge Naruto when she doesn't even know anything about him.' Sakura replied to Inner Sakura.

"What's up with you?' Kaiah asked Sakura when she realized that they had stopped walking.

They were standing on the sidewalk by a small pond, their reflections rippling with the intense charge in the air.

"Don't you dare insult Naruto! You don't know anything about him!" Sakura hissed.

"Oh, what, is he like your boyfriend or something." Kaiah smirked.

"No way!" Sakura blushed.

"Ahh. But you like him don't you, even though he has a bad reputation as a player." Kaiah continued to smirk.

"No I don't like Naruto! He's just a good friend, and I won't let you bad mouth him." Sakura replied composing herself and trying to keep her anger in check.

"Don't like him huh? He's hot and you know it, even if he is a womanizing jerk." Kaiah stated.

Sakura snapped, sending the girl flying into the pond with her fist. 'CHA!' she mentally shouted.

"Don't. Insult. Naruto. In. Front. Of. Me." Sakura hissed between breaths.

Kaiah surfaced slowly and made her way to the shallow part of the pond, blue eyes glaring at Sakura through a squint. Then she grabbed Sakura by the arm and yanked her into the pond.

"Well, if you don't like Naruto, then maybe I should make a pass at him." Kaiah smirked again.

Sakura lunged at Kaiah and the water/mud wrestling match was on. Kaiah flipped Sakura over and pinned one arm behind her back. Sakura then threw her head back and butted Kaiah in the nose. While she staggered back Sakura aimed a kick at Kaiah's leg throwing her backwards into the water. She then threw an axe kick at Kaiah's stomach, but Kaiah was much quicker and somehow back flipped onto her feet. Sakura's feet made contact with mud, and then she felt an arm slink around her neck and squeeze. Kaiah had managed to get Sakura into a head lock. "Ah. The jealous type." Kaiah said.

"Am. .." gasped Sakura.

"Yeah, whatever. Just admit that you have feelings for Naruto and I'll let you go." Kaiah continued.

"Don'..Way." Sakura again gasped, she was losing oxygen and would pass out soon if she didn't find a way out.

"Fine. It would be easier to just admit the truth, but I guess passing out is a much better option." Kaiah replied sarcastically tightening her grip on Sakura.

Sakura was trying to pull Kaiah's arm away with her hands, but the girl was just too darn strong, and she could begin to feel herself become dizzy.

'Just admit it idiot!' Inner Sakura yelled.

'No! I can't!' Sakura yelled back.

'It's the truth! Just admit it!' Inner Sakura continued to yell.

'But I can't! I can't have feelings for the school's player.' Sakura began to whimper. 'Not again. I don't want to be hurt again.' A single tear fell from her eye.

'You'll feel better if you just admit it.' Inner Sakura said gently.

Sakura was beginning to feel faint.

"Alright! I like Naruto!" Sakura finally screamed.

Kaiah released Sakura, and she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"I don't want to." Sakura sniffed. "I don't want to be hurt again. But I can't help it. I'm attracted to the school's biggest player. I always fall for the jerks."

Kaiah knelt in front of Sakura, and Sakura looked up into her face.

"Now. Doesn't that feel better?" Kaiah smiled.

Sakura just looked at her. She couldn't explain it, but she did feel better. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.

"I figured it out this morning." Kaiah said to Sakura still smiling. "The way you looked and smiled at him. I knew that you had feelings for him, but were too afraid to admit it. And stop stressing out. I heard that Naruto's a player, but he can't be that bad. Just give him time and he'll come around."

Sakura just nodded.

"Anyways. I just said all that stuff earlier to get you to open up." Kaiah said laughing.

Sakura looked at the girl, stunned.

"Yeah. He has way too much in common with my little brother for me to be attracted to him." Kaiah laughed.

Sakura smiled at the image.

"Kaiah?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we keep this between us? I'm not ready for other people, especially him, to know." Sakura admitted.

"It's a deal if you promise to tell him before we graduate." Kaiah said, smiling and extending her hand.

"Deal!" Sakura said as she grasped Kaiah's outstretched hand.

Then both trudged to their houses covered in mud and drenched with water.

****

"Gaara it's not funny!" huffed Naruto as he placed an ice pack to his cheek, and Gaara hunched over in a fit of laughter on Naruto's bed.

It was Saturday, and Gaara had come over to see Naruto while Iruka was at work. When he had first arrived he had meet Sakura in the drive.

"Hi." he said. "Here to hang with Kaiah?"

"Yeah, we're gonna go shopping today." said Sakura as they both walked up to the house.

Sakura and Kaiah had quickly become best friends, which had surprised Naruto because he thought that Kaiah's cold demeanor and sarcastic attitude would run everyone away, but she had managed to find friends with Sakura and Ino's little group. Sometimes though Gaara and Sakura would come over and the four of them would hang out at the house together playing the Wii or the PS3. It was actually pretty fun on some days.

As they walked up, they could hear shouts coming from the other side of the door. When they walked in, they froze, stunned and open mouthed. Naruto was pinned at the bottom of the stairs with a bruise on his left cheek, and with a very angry Kaiah straddling his back, pulling his arms behind him.

"WHERE IS IT NARUTO!?"

"NOT TELLING!"

"WHERE?!"

"I'LL NEVER TELL!"

Kaiah pulled on his arms harder, and Naruto, with tears at the corners of his eyes, yelped like a puppy that had been stepped on.

"WHERE DID YOU HIDE IT?!"

"AAAGGHHH! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! IT'S HIDDEN IN MY DIRTY CLOTHS!"

"YOU PUT MY I-POD IN YOUR DIRTY UNDERWEAR!" Kaiah dug her right knee into Naruto's side, causing him to grunt. Kaiah leapt up off Naruto and sprinted up the stairs to Naruto's room to retrieve her I-pod that he had hidden from her while she was in the shower.

Naruto limped into the kitchen with Gaara following behind, holding his sides, and Sakura bounded up stairs to follow after Kaiah, snickering the whole way.

Kaiah had been there a little over three months now, and she was taking the 'little brother' thing seriously. She was driving Naruto insane! Nag, nag, nag, boss him around, nag, nag, and nag, everything that older sisters do. Of course Naruto was taking the little brother thing to heart as well, annoying the hell out of her and constantly pulling pranks.

"How could you let a girl beat you down?" Gaara gasped as he wiped the tears from his eyes. They had finally managed to make it to Naruto's bedroom after some more threats from Kaiah before she left.

"Dude, you've never been in a fight with her." said Naruto seriously as he threw the ice pack at Gaara. "She's like the Hulk!"

Gaara fell off the bed in another fit of laughter.

Meanwhile, Kaiah and Sakura were at the mall shopping and chatting away happily.

"You and Naruto get along quite well." Sakura grinned.

"Jeez! He's just like my brother, in every way. He just makes me want to strangle him!" Kaiah said, clenching and unclenching her hands.

Sakura laughed "Well, he's Naruto after all. At least with you around, he doesn't pester me as much anymore."

"Gee, thanks. Glad to see my misery is so benefiting for you." Kaiah sarcastically remarked.

Sakura just laughed. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about all those fan girls up at the house anymore. I doubt they want to confront 'big sister' again." They just looked each other in the eye and started laughing hysterically. Sakura had actually been inspired to join the school martial arts. She wanted to be as strong as Kaiah. About a month ago, Naruto had come home to an empty house after a martial arts match with four girls all over him. They were in the middle of a make out session in the den when Kaiah had come back from Temari's. Everything was still… that is until Kaiah lost it and started screaming "What the hell are these tramps doing here, and on my blanket no less!!!" Then there was a whirl of fists as each one of Naruto's girls was swiftly, and literally, thrown out on their butts. Kaiah was going to get the playboy out of Naruto even if she had to literally bet it out of him, for Sakura's sake. Naruto was absolutely shocked, and in truth, absolutely terrified of the raging girl. He thought that he had enough balls to stand up and tell Kaiah that he could be with whom he wanted, but after the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted it. He could have sworn that she had cracked some of his ribs that night. After that, he was careful not to bring any girls home, not that any would even try after the rumor about what had happened spread through the school like wild fire.

"Well, Naruto doesn't need all those tramps poisoning his mind. He needs to focus on going to college and working on his martial arts. He could really go places with his talents. He's not a bad guitar player either." Kaiah said.

"You just can't help care for him can you?" Sakura asked with a soft smile on her face.

"You're right." Kaiah sighed in defeat.

"I know exactly how you feel."

Later that afternoon, the four friends had gathered at Naruto's to play the Wii. They had a great time, and Naruto thought that he saw Gaara checking out Kaiah a few times. 'Well, well, well.' he smirked mentally, 'that's interesting. I might have to play matcher maker.' And to be honest, Gaara was the only male that Naruto would let look at Kaiah. Naruto had become a little protective over Kaiah, and all the males at school knew that…. from experience. One day, while Naruto and Kaiah were walking up to the school, there was a small group of guys hanging out on the stairs by the door, and Naruto heard one of them whistle as Kaiah walked by. He turned and noticed that one of the guys was staring at her shapely back end. The next second, the boy was pinned up against the wall, with Naruto's fist clenching the front of his shirt.

"What the hell are you staring at?!" he had growled.

"N-n-n-nothing." the poor guy stuttered.

"That's what I thought." said Naruto as he let go, and the shaking boy slumped down the wall.

Kaiah was stunned and angry. "Naruto…" she started to fuss, but was instantly cut off by the intense look that Naruto gave her. And that was the end of that.

Iruka had come home after everyone had collapsed on the floor, carrying a couple large pizzas. "FOOD!" everyone shouted together and bombarded Iruka.

Iruka just laughed "Hang on guys, at least let me sit it down!"

Everyone dug in, and Naruto, for the first time in a long time, was truly happy. He enjoyed seeing the smiling faces of his friends, but most of all, he was so happy to see Iruka happy. They sat for awhile joking, laughing, and chatting. It was getting, late so Sakura and Gaara decided to call it a night and headed to their respective homes. Naruto had managed to snag the shower before Kaiah, so while she took her shower, Iruka and Naruto sat on the upper deck patio and Naruto shared his concerns with his father figure.

"Hey Iruka."

"Yeah."

"I'm worried."

"About your problem?" Iruka asked, as he tuned to face Naruto.

"Yeah. And Kaiah and Sakura."

"Why those two."

"Because, I noticed a couple of _his_ hench men following us the other day when we were walking home from school." said Naruto, as his eyes hardened as he turned to Iruka. "They're getting too close to me, and I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to them because of my weakness."

"Naruto, letting them get close to you isn't a weakness." Iruka replied.

"But what if _he_ takes them and hurts them just to make sure I go along like he wants!" Naruto exclaimed, distress rolling off of him in waves.

"Don't worry Naruto." Iruka wrapped his right arm around Naruto's shoulders to calm him down. "I've got Jiraiya, Tsunade, and even your teacher Kakashi working nonstop to find a way out of this. They'll find a way, I know it."

"You sure?"

"Of course. They're the best."

"Thanks Iruka." said Naruto as he snuggled under Iruka's arm a little.

The two sat in silence, snuggled against each other, until Kaiah interrupted.

"Um. Iruka, you have a phone call." said Kaiah as she extended the cordless phone to Iruka. She had been standing there for a bit, watching the love shared between the two. She was tough as nails, a force to be reckoned with, and cold hearted when she had to be, but watching those two, she couldn't help but feel the pain, that she had always kept buried, tug at her heart. She wasn't suppose to let these emotions bother her. But watching Naruto and Iruka had stirred something inside her that she had never felt.

"Alright." Iruka rose and took the phone and proceeded into the house.

"Sup" Kaiah said as she took Iruka's seat beside Naruto.

"Not much."

Kaiah just smiled and looked up at the stars. She felt like she was intruding on Naruto's space, but the new emotion in her heart was begging her to stay, to seek comfort. She didn't know what to do, she felt lost. They sat there looking at the stars for a while until Kaiah broke the silence.

"What's it like?" Kaiah said still looking up.

"What?" asked Naruto as he looked at her.

"What's it like to have a father, to have a close bond to someone?" She asked, never taking her eyes off the stars and pulling her knees to her chest into a hug.

"Well….ummm….don't you have a father?" he asked, looking at her.

"No" she replied, resting her chin on her knees.

"What happened to him?" Naruto blurted out before he had even thought.

"He left before I was born. Mom wanted to go with him, but he told her that what he did for a living was too dangerous for her to follow and my mom never wanted to have another relationship." she said, not once looking at Naruto. "He didn't even know that I was coming when he left."

Naruto felt awful being so nosey. Then Naruto noticed something in her eyes that he had seen in his own at one time; Sadness, self pity, anger, like she had lost something but didn't know what it was. Her eyes were glazed over with all the emotions that were swirling around in them, emotions that she had never confronted herself. At that moment, she looked so vulnerable and hopeless, something that was so out of character for Kaiah. Naruto's heart ached for her and at the same time he felt privileged to have her show this side of herself to him. Kaiah hadn't even opened up this much to Sakura. Naruto reached his left arm out and pulled her to him. Kaiah tensed at first, never having that kind of attention given to her, but soon she relaxed at the comfort that she felt in Naruto's arms, and scooted closer so she could snuggle into his side. Naruto tilted his head to the side and rested it on top of hers.

"It's kinda like this." he said after a few minutes.

Kaiah let out a contented sighed, and snuggled a little closer.

"Maybe a little more over protective, but you can't really tell the difference." he said, earning a giggle from the girl in his arms.

Naruto smiled, glad that he could offer some comfort and bring a smile to her face.

Her sweet voice then reached his ears, "Thank you Naruto."

"No problem. I'll always be here if you need me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Maybe Iruka was right, maybe it was okay to let Kaiah close to his heart.

A few days had passed, and life went on as usual. However, Naruto and Kaiah had become a lot closer. Kaiah lashed out less often and Naruto wasn't as annoying.

"Hey Kaiah." shouted Naruto from down the school hallway as he ran towards the girl.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Sakura and I have martial arts practice this afternoon. I wanted to know if you wanted to hang around and wait or if you wanted to go on home?" asked.

"I really need to go home, I have a physiology project to work on." She said.

"Oh." Naruto frowned.

"What's wrong?" Kaiah asked looking at Naruto.

"Well, can Gaara walk you home at least?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I'm a big girl, I'll be okay." She said reaching up to ruffle his hair.

"I know." He said chuckling, swatting her hand away playfully. "I'd just feel better if you had someone with you. Please, do it for me?"

Kaiah sighed, giving into his puppy dog look "Alright fine. But only because you said please."

"Thanks, I'll tell Gaara. See ya when I get home." He said as he walked away.

Kaiah had walked out to the sidewalk and leaned against the big shade tree while she waited for Gaara.

"Hello Kaiah." a deep male voice sounded from behind her.

"What do you want?" Kaiah replied, not even looking at the newcomer.

A young man with buzzed light brown hair and brown eyes, clad in black dress pants and a gray polo shirt, walked in front of Kaiah.

"Oh come on. Don't be like that. You know that I have to sporadically check up on you. Orders. Remember?" he said.

"Don't give me that crap Clyde. I know that you've been spying on me for the past two months now, and that's not on orders." Kaiah snapped looking him in the eyes.

" Well, you know how I feel. I was worried about you." he said.

"Yeah, well, you kinda screwed that up yourself." she shot back.

"Yeah I know. But any way, we need to meet to discuss some things." Clyde said.

"Like what?"

"Classified things that don't need to be accidently overheard."

"Fine. We'll talk Saturday night. I know that you'll be following me, so just choose a place."

"Okay, but before I go, can we talk about us." Clyde said.

"There's nothing to discuss Clyde." Kaiah said as she glared at him.

"Come on Kaiah. I know that I screwed up. I screwed up real bad." He said.

"You got that right." Kaiah spat.

"What can I do to give us another chance?" Clyde pleaded.

"There isn't 'another chance'. You knew that, but still went and screwed around anyway." She said giving him a cold, dead stare.

"Kaiah, please don't be like this" he said as he moved closer, resting his hand against the tree trunk beside Kaiah's head.

"Clyde. Stop." Kaiah pushed him away, but he grabbed her hand.

"Kaiah…." Clyde started.

"Are you deaf pal. She said get lost." Someone said from the right, as Kaiah jerked her hand out of Clyde's grasp.

Kaiah and Clyde looked over, and relief flooded Kaiah's face. 'Gaara' she mentally smiled.

"And who are you?" Clyde asked, getting defensive.

"I'm her friend." Gaara said stepping between the two. "And I suggest that you leave like she asked you."

Gaara stood with his arms crossed over his button down black shirt, giving Clyde an icy stare. Gaara was very intimidating with his calm attitude and mild voice.

"Fine. Whatever." Clyde said, and turned and walked away.

"Thanks." Kaiah said.

"No problem. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Who was that anyway?" Gaara asked.

"An old face from my past." Kaiah replied.

"Old boyfriend that can't take a hint?" Gaara said smirking.

"Cut it out!" Kaiah punched Gaara playfully.

"Come on. Let's go home." Gaara laughed as they started walking.

"Hey Gaara."

"Yeah?"  
"Please don't tell Naruto about what happened." Kaiah said.

"Why?" Gaara asked, looking concerned.

"He worries about me enough. I know that there's something hounding him." Kaiah said, and Gaara just looked surprised.

"I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but something's troubling Naruto, and I just don't want to be another burden on his plate." Kaiah said looking Gaara in the eyes with such intensity that his breath caught.

"Alright. I won't say anything. But if he comes around again, let me know, and I'll take care of it. Okay?" Gaara said.

"Okay." Kaiah replied as the air around them became thicker.

**Here's chapter 2. First, thank you to all of you that reviewed and added me to your favorite stories and authors. I appreciate it very much. And wind797, hope you like the catfight, I added it just for you. Anyways, things are going to start getting a little more active now. Please read and review.**


	3. Chapter 3

'Friday, whoohoo.' thought Kaiah with a frown as she walked down stairs to the kitchen, rubbing her temples. 'Tomorrow I have to meet with that jerk. Great. Some higher power must be getting a kick out of making my life miserable.'

Kaiah slowly made her way into the kitchen to find Naruto at the table finishing his bowl of cereal and Iruka washing his coffee cup . "Mornin." she huffed as she walked by.

"Man, what's up with you? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Naruto glared.

"Shut up." Kaiah said, searching the fridge for some orange juice.

Iruka just chuckled and walked up stairs to finish getting ready for work. He enjoyed watching those two fight. They really did act like brother and sister.

"Oh great!" Naruto said sarcastically "It's that time of the month again, huh? Let me get a head start out the door so I can warn innocent bystanders to take cover."

Kaiah smacked him in the back of his head as she walked back into the living room.

"Oww! Why do ya have to be so violent?!" Naruto yelled as he rubbed the back of his sore head while putting his bowl in the dish washer.

"Why do you have to be so annoying?" Kaiah retorted, gathering her school work as the door bell rang.

"Someone has to balance out your negative energy." Naruto smirked, dodging another blow from Kaiah as he ran to get the door.

"Mornin guys!" said Naruto brightly to his two friends.

"Mornin." "Hey." Gaara and Sakura said together.

Then they heard a crash in the living room, followed by some loud curses of "Dammit! Shit! Mother Fu…" and some stumbling.

Naruto leaned in to his friends and cupped his left hand to his mouth "She's PMSing."

They just nodded and Naruto walked with them to the sidewalk to wait for Kaiah.

Kaiah emerged looking rather disheveled. "Let's go." She grunted.

The walk to school was rather amusing for Gaara and Sakura.

Kaiah and Naruto bickered until they were in eye sight of the school, then Naruto said to Kaiah, "Man, you're so freakin snappy today! You need to be kept on a leash!"

After that, Naruto ran for his life the rest of the way to the school, Kaiah chasing him with a deadly grace yelling threats in English that no one understood. Gaara and Sakura were gasping for breath from their laughter when they finally reached the school.

However, at the end of the day in gym class, things got really scary.

Naruto had noticed that Kaiah was a bit more temperamental than normal and had found out that she had knocked out a couple of girls that had given her a few snide comments that morning. How she was still in school and not in trouble was beyond him.

It was near the end of class, everyone was outside and doing their own activities. Kaiah, Gaara, and a few others were practicing their archery. Kaiah really didn't need to practice since her archery was perfect from all the hunting she did, but she enjoyed it none the less. Naruto and some other guys were playing some American football. Sakura was with her group of friends on the bleachers just talking and observing everyone else and the rest of the girls in the class were sitting by them observing Naruto.

Naruto was wearing a pair of baggy black basketball shorts and an orange baggy sleeveless shirt and some white Nike's. Every time Naruto would throw, jump or get tackled, his shirt would expose his six pack, making the group of fan girls sigh or squeal. Sakura and her friends would just roll their eyes.

"So, Sakura. I noticed that Naruto hasn't been hooking up with anyone lately." Temari said with a little smirk. "You think him and Kaiah have something going on? They do live in the same house."

"No way." Sakura laughed. "She says that he's too much like her brother to even be remotely interested in him."

"Well, it's about time someone put a leash on him. He was getting out of control." said Kiba.

"Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed.

"What!? It's true!" he replied.

"I agree. He was becoming way to troublesome." said Shikamaru shaking his head.

Everyone just laughed, and the group of fan girls looked scandalous.

Naruto had just thrown the ball, and had backed into Kaiah.

"Hey! Careful! I have a sharp object here!" Kaiah almost shouted as she dropped her bow and arrow.

"HeHe. Yeah, you and sharp objects are a dangerous combination." Naruto laughed.

"You're freakin hilarious, you know that." Kaiah rolled her eyes.

Naruto laughed and put Kaiah into a head lock.

"Ugh! Gross! Get your smelly pits outta my face!" Kaiah said as she punched Naruto in the side playfully.

"Oh she makes me so sick!" one of the black haired fan girls said. "How can she treat him like that? Stupid wench!"

Sakura and her friends stiffened, and so did Naruto.

Kaiah was about to turn and face the girl, but Naruto gently grabbed her arm and turned her away. "Just ignore it. She's not worth it." he said.

Kaiah yanked her arm out of Naruto's grip, picked up her bow and went back to practice. She tried to focus on her archery rather than her anger that was already past the breaking point.

Naruto caught Sakura's eye and sighed as he made his way to her.

"Hey." He sighed as he leaned against the bench with his left arm.

"Hi." Sakura said.

Kiba then started making gagging sounds.

"Problem dog breath?" Naruto growled.

"Yeah! You, jerk!" Kiba shot back.

They just glared at each other, fists clenched, ready to pounce.

"Ah, Jeez!" Sakura exclaimed. "Would you two cut it out?"

"Fine." Naruto said, dropping his gaze to Sakura.

"Thank you." she huffed.

The rest of the group was stunned at his compliance, to say the least. Naruto never listened to anyone, well except Gaara and Kaiah.

"What's up?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"I'm worried about Kaiah." he said. "She's been so aggressive today… well… more than normal."

"Yeah, I noticed that this morning." Sakura smirked.

"HaHa. Very funny." Naruto retorted.

Sakura just laughed.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and waited for Sakura to finish before he started again.

Needless to say, Sakura's group of friends were starting to get interested in how they were interacting with each other, and were hanging on every word that was said between the two.

"I'm serious. I was wondering if something happened yesterday and maybe she told you about it?" he said.

"No. She didn't tell me anything. We really haven't talked much today." Sakura said, beginning to get a little worried about her friend as well. They hadn't talked much today, and that was a little odd.

"Gaara walked her home yesterday, but he didn't say if anything happened on the way home." Naruto said.

"He didn't say anything to me either." Sakura said.

"How bout you Ino? Has she said anything to you?" Naruto asked.

"Humph! If she wanted you to know then she would have told you. Even if she had said something, I wouldn't tell you." she said as she turned away.

"Bitch!" he growled.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Sorry! Geez!" he said as he looked away and began staring at Kaiah.

Okay! Now the group was thoroughly confused. _The_ Naruto was apologizing! And to Sakura, a girl, no less! Alright, something was defiantly going on here. Too bad they couldn't divulge more out of the two, since the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Everyone slowly began to put away the things that they were using and started making their way to the locker rooms to change.

Kaiah was busy picking up the arrows around her when the black haired fan girl walked by and muttered "Wench."

Kaiah stiffened, and slowly rose, with the bow in her hand, trying to keep her anger at bay, "Excuse me?"

"You think you're so special just because you're the transfer student." the girl snickered, and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the exchange. Naruto, Gaara, and Sakura and her group were trying to make their way to Kaiah, pushing the large crowd out of their way. Naruto had a bad feeling.

"I don't how you managed to get out of trouble for beating up my friends, you just did. You're noting but a spoiled, stuck up, rich girl that always wants her way." The fan girl continued.

"You know nothing about me." Kaiah seethed, shaking with anger.

"Oh, whatever! I know all about girls like you. But guess what? That's not how it works around here. So back up the attitude unless you wanna get beat down." the girl said as she started walking away.

"Nobody talks to me like that! You're so dead!" Kaiah nearly whispered as she gripped the bow in her left hand so tightly that blood began to trickle down the metal. Kaiah felt her self control vanish as instinct took over.

"Oh whatever! And just what do you think you're gonna do about it?" the girl smirked as she turned back towards Kaiah. However, the smirk was wiped off her face and replaced with fear.

Kaiah had raised the bow and had an arrow aimed towards the girl, a look of blood lust clouding her blue eyes.

Everyone in the area began to panic, yelling different things like "Holy sh…!", "Run!", "She's crazy!", "Son of a ….", and other panicked word choices.

Naruto and the others rushed forward as Naruto yelled "Kaiah! No!"

Kaiah, unphased and unblinking, let the arrow fly, embedding itself in its target.

Everyone stood shocked as Naruto rushed forward and yanked the bow out of Kaiah's hands, while Kaiah just stood there, calm as a summer breeze.

Everyone looked at the arrow, resting in a perfect bull's eye on the target behind the black haired girl, just millimeters from the girl's head. The girl had collapsed on the ground, shaking furiously, while her own urine continued to spread across her white gym shorts.

Kaiah and the girl just stared at each other through the stunned silence; Kaiah's eyes holding not a trace of emotion what so ever. The look in her eyes had Naruto on edge. 'How can she almost kill someone and be completely calm about it?' Naruto thought as he slipped his arm around Kaiah's shoulders to lead her away.

"Screw with me again." Kaiah said before she allowed Naruto and Gaara to lead her away.

Naruto and Gaara walked on either side of Kaiah on their way home as Sakura, Ino and her group followed behind. You could cut the tension in the group with a knife. When they reached Naruto's house, Kaiah just walked up stairs to get her shower, while the others stayed at the door.

Naruto turned to everyone. "Thanks for walking home with us." he said.

"No problem. We're happy to help." said Temari.

Naruto gave one of his old, sincere smiles.

"Thanks guys. I guess we'll see you on Monday." he said a little wearily.

"Okay." Temari said as she and everyone but Sakura and Gaara turned to go to their own homes.

"Call me later and let me knows what's goin on, okay?" Sakura said, concerned etched through her face.

"Yeah, me too." Gaara said.

"I will." said Naruto as he slipped into the house.

"Naruto. What's going on?" Iruka said as he met Naruto at the door.

Naruto just looked at him.

"Come on Naruto. I heard you guys talking, and I saw Kaiah. What's up?" Iruka said, concern coating his voice.

"Let's go to your office and I'll explain everything there." said Naruto.

Iruka nodded, and both men went up stairs.

It took almost an hour to tell Iruka everything, beginning from the morning to the end of the day. Iruka said that he would call the school Monday to inquire about what had happened and to see if there would be any severe consequences from this.

At the moment, it was night, and Naruto was on the upper patio in his usual spot, star gazing.

Naruto heard the door slide open, and he glanced sideways to see Kaiah standing there. Naruto just smiled, and patted the seat beside him, beckoning Kaiah to join him.

Kaiah flopped down beside Naruto, and he looked at her and just smiled.

Naruto was taken a little by surprise as Kaiah fell against his side and snuggled into him.

"Hold me." Kaiah pleaded.

The way she seemed so helpless and confused at the moment made Naruto's heart ache. He wrapped his left arm around Kaiah and pulled her to him. Kaiah wrapped her right arm across his back and fisted his black shirt with her left hand.

"Kaiah? Are you okay?" Naruto asked a little worried.

Kaiah barely shook her head and let out what sounded like a choked sob.

"Naruto…. I wanted to kill her…. I would have killed her." Kaiah whispered.

Naruto was totally shocked and became a little nervous at this statement. 'Kaiah _wanted _to kill the girl? How can she bring herself to almost kill someone so easily?'

"What stopped you?" he asked.

Kaiah gripped his shirt tighter. "You called me."

Naruto, surprised at her comment, just looked down at the shaking girl in his arms.

Kaiah continued. "You sounded so worried and scared."

Naruto pulled Kaiah closer to him.

"I never want you to have to see that again. But… I'm afraid that… I'll lose my temper again and won't be able to stop." Kaiah was now openly crying, and it broke Naruto's heart to see her like this. The invincible, hard as steel Kaiah, so broken and torn; it was hard to believe.

"I don't want to be like that, but I can't help it. It's always been like this." she sobbed.

"Are you saying that you're, like, bipolar or something?" Naruto asked.

"Something like that." Kaiah said.

'Well, that's explains some of her strange behavior.' Naruto thought.

"But I don't want to be! I want to be normal! But I can't!" she cried.

"Shhh. It's okay." Naruto cooed as he lifted Kaiah's chin with his right hand, and wiped away her tears. "I'll help you get over it. We'll figure out how, together. Okay?"

A small smile graced Kaiah's lips. "You mean it?"

"Of course!" Naruto smiled down at her.

Kaiah then buried her face into Naruto's chest and continued to sob for another good ten minutes, while Naruto gently stroked her arm. Naruto was surprised at how much control he had over this girl's emotions. She seemed almost heartless and distant with others, but could completely expose herself to him without a second thought.

Naruto then felt Kaiah's body become slack from exhaustion.

"I'm right here." Naruto said, laying his head on top of Kaiah's.

Kaiah nodded and drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. After a few minutes of resting against him, Naruto could hear her breathing even out and become deep and slow.

Carefully, Naruto picked her up and carried her to her bed. She grunted slightly when Naruto's warmth was gone, so Naruto pulled the covers over her and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. He gently tucked her dark hair behind her ear and rested his hand on her cheek and gently stroked it.

Naruto stood up and just looked over her for a few seconds before he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I'll always be here for you. No matter what." he whispered as he pulled away.

"Good night." he whispered as he quietly closed the door.

***

Kaiah finally stirred around ten on Saturday morning. 'Man! I feel like I have a hangover!' she thought as she sat up and began to rub the sleep from her eyes.

Opening her eyes, she took in the morning rays that were seeping into her room. 'Great. Saturday. Wonder what drama awaits me on today.' she bitterly thought.

Then yesterday came back to her memory so fast that she thought she would vomit. 'Oh my God! I totally lost control!' she screamed mentally as she held her head.

She was mentally beating herself up as she went over yesterday's events. 'Damn him! Getting me all riled up, completely losing control.' she thought.

Then she remembered her conversation with Naruto and falling asleep in his arms. Looking up to the door she smiled.

It was a relief. For once in her life, she had someone that that wouldn't run away from her, someone she could depend on and open up to. 'Well, not completely open up to.' she thought. 'As soon as I get all these loose ends tied up, I'll tell him everything.'

Kaiah felt so light and free as she dressed herself in a white, black, and teal sleeveless sundress and black flip flops. She then walked downstairs with a smile on her face.

"Good morning!" she piped up as she entered the living room, to find Naruto watching T.V, dressed in jeans, a white tank top covered by an orange button down shirt that was open with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Morning!" he beamed. "You look much better today. Do you feel better?"

Kaiah flopped down on the couch next to Naruto and hugged his middle as he draped his left arm over her shoulder. "Yes. I feel much better."

Kaiah then leaned up to give Naruto a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Naruto."

"For what?" he asked, blushing slightly.

"For staying. For not abandoning me like everyone else."

"Kaiah." Naruto said as he lifted her chin to look at him, a serious look in his eyes. "I would never leave you. I promised you that I would always be here for you, and I meant it."

"Even with my uncontrollable temper?" she asked

Naruto just smiled, "That's just part of your charm."

Kaiah snorted in amusment, but then quickly turned serious.

"But what if I lose control again?" she asked.

"I won't let that happen. I told you we'd find a way to fix that, and we will."

Kaiah smiled, a true smile, as she leaned up to peck Naruto on the cheek again before getting up.

"It's such a nice April day, let's walk to the park and then go get something to eat." Kaiah said.

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Naruto as he jumped off the tan couch.

Kaiah truly enjoyed her day with Naruto. They walked around the park for awhile before they went to grab some food. Then they headed back to the park to play some tennis.

At the moment they were back home watching T.V, some documentary on earthquakes. They were talking about the different major fault lines when the door bell rang.

"That's Gaara." Naruto said as he jumped up to get the door.

Kaiah started blushing. 'Why didn't he tell me Gaara was coming? I would have fixed my hair or something!' she thought.

"Hey man. Let me go get my wallet and I'll be ready to go." Naruto said.

Gaara came in and sat on the love set across from Kaiah as he waited for Naruto.

"Hi." Kaiah said.

"Hey. Good to see you're feeling better." said Gaara.

"Yeah. Sometimes bipolar spells will hit me, but I'm okay now." Kaiah replied.

"I didn't know you were bipolar." Gaara said.

"I'm not. Well, not really. It's something kinda like being bipolar. It's hard to explain." mumbled Kaiah in frustration.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay now. I was worried about you." Gaara blushed a little.

"Really? You were worried about me?" Kaiah asked.

"Yeah."

Now they were both blushing madly.

"So, what are you and Naruto doing tonight?" Kaiah asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Oh, well there's this new scary movie out, so we're gonna go see it." Gaara said.

"Hehe, well have at it. I don't do scary movies." Kaiah said laughing.

"Really?" Gaara asked; a bit surprised since this was Kaiah they were talking about.

"Yeah. There's plenty of real life scary things. Like what might be growing under Naruto's bed." Kaiah quipped.

Gaara busted out laughing and Kaiah joined in.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked as he emerged from upstairs.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Kaiah replied quickly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow quizzically at her.

"You ready?" Gaara asked after he had finally caught his breath.

"Yep!" exclaimed Naruto as he headed for the door.

"Well, see you later Kaiah." Gaara said.

"Yeah, later. You guys be careful, okay." Kaiah said.

"Sure thing. Be back around ten." Naruto waved as he and Gaara exited.

'That's perfect.' Kaiah thought. 'I'll be back way before then.'

"Iruka?" called Kaiah.

"Yeah." he shouted from upstairs.

"I'm gonna go out a pick up a few things I need. Okay?" she replied.

"That's fine. Just don't get into any trouble, okay?"

"Alright. Be back in a few!" yelled Kaiah as she headed out.

When Kaiah got into town, she headed over to a sidewalk stand to get a nice hot green tea, and sat on a nearby bench, waiting for Clyde to make his appearance.

After waiting for a few minutes, Kaiah felt someone come up behind her.

"You really need to work on your stealth." she said, taking a sip of her tea.

"Never could out smart you." Clyde said taking a seat beside Kaiah.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Kaiah asked.

"Well, there're a few things I need to inform you on, but not here. Let's go somewhere else." Clyde said.

"Fine. Lead the way." Kaiah said as she stood and they walked up the street.

When they finally came to a stop, Kaiah wasn't to surprised.

"A club?! You want to discuss this at a club?!" Kaiah said clenching her fists, beginning to feel her anger rise.

Clyde jumped back a bit and put his hands up in defense "It's the perfect place. The noise and activity is a great distraction to keep other people from overhearing our conversation."

"Whatever." Kaiah said as she entered the club, she just wanted to hurry up and get this over with so she could get away from him.

Kaiah and Clyde took a booth in the corner of the VIP section.

At the same time, a blonde haired man with seven guys looking like gangsters took a seat on the opposite wall.

The blonde man lifted his hand, and within seconds four lovely ladies approached the table.

"Ah, my favorite ladies." he replied.

"Hey baby. It's been awhile. We've missed you." purred the bronze haired girl as she and one other girl sat on either side of the man and the other two sat between the other guys.

"I've missed you too." the man said stroking her thigh and sniffing her neck.

"Hope you plan on staying with us for a bit tonight. It's been so long since we've had a good time." the strawberry blond said as she nuzzled against the man's neck.

"Oh, I do ladies." he replied in a husky voice.

The girls just giggled.

"So Hidan. That's the girl staying with Naruto, is it not." the blonde said to one of the guys.

"Yes sir. That's her. Kaiah Somerset." the man addressed as Hidan replied.

"Well, well, how interesting." smirked the blonde.

"So, we'll use the girl as bait to keep Naruto from stepping out of line, sir?" Hidan asked.

"Oh, no. I, myself, have done some research on our young lady there, and I have uncovered quite a few interesting things about her." the blonde said.

"Interesting huh? May I ask how interesting sir." Hidan said.

"Well, for right now, let's just say that the tables have turned on our young Naruto. I have a new plan. But we can discuss that later. For now, lets' just enjoy our company." the blonde stated before he captured the bronze haired girl that was now straddling him in a heated kiss.

"Alright Clyde, what's this new information that you've discovered?" Kaiah said, getting a little irritated.

Clyde just took a shot of his sake, "Why in such a hurry?"

"Because I would like to get back home before ten. I don't want everyone to know anything as of yet, and getting home late will defiantly give rise to some questions." Kaiah shot back.

"Okay fine." Clyde retorted. "But you're not gonna be happy with this information."

"Why? What's it about?"

"While I was doing my research on a different subject, I ran across some disturbing information on someone." Clyde said, trying to figure out a way to get it out that didn't land him in the hospital.

"Disturbing information? On who?" Kaiah asked, beginning to get a little uncomfortable with Clyde's hesitance.

Clyde threw back another shot of sake to calm his nerves. He was really hoping that he didn't end up in the hospital by morning.

"It's about Naruto."

**Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Well, here ya go, chapter 3. Sorry for the delay, had a bit of a writer's block for a few days. Anyways, thanks again to all of you who have reviewed and added my story to your Favs, it really helps inspire me to continue posting. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and by the way wind797, I haven't forgotten your request, it's just going in a later chapter ;) Please read and review. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post again. Thanx!**


	4. Chapter 4

It's been six days since her meeting with Clyde, and Kaiah had been hitting up the library almost every day since. The news that Clyde had given her was indeed disturbing. She knew only parts of the secret that

Naruto's been keeping, but she needed more information about him and his family before she could confront him and Iruka on the situation and finish piecing together the rest of the puzzle. It had been an early

release day at school and at the moment Kaiah was in her room reading through some newspaper articles and medical records that she had acquired, jotting little notes in her notebook as she read.

'Okay' she thought. 'Here's Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, and his mother Kushina Uzumaki. So, Iruka changed Naruto's last name to keep him hidden huh? Well that didn't work out well, _he_ still found him.'

Kaiah ran her finger across the page 'And here's Minato's cousin, Yukio Namikaze, no wife or children and the rest of the family dead. Man, the family's business doesn't give you a long life span. Jeez!'

Kaiah looked back at the newspapers, over the obituaries. 'Looks like the family took out the opposition long ago, leaving the Namikaze's in control.'

She then fell back on the bed and rubbed her temples. 'So what does _he_ want with Naruto!? I know that Gaara knows what's really going on with him. They have a similar tragic history which bonds them together

so closely. Iruka defiantly knows.'

Kaiah rolled over to her side and grabbed her notebook and began flipping pages, until she found what she was looking for.

'Then there's the private investigator Jiraiya who's working in secret with Kakashi-sensei digging up some information, and then there's the Chief of Police Tsunade who is working in conjunction with Jiraiya and

Kakashi-sensei, secretly of course. She can't let on what's going on because then Naruto would be in even more danger.'

Kaiah shut her notebook and lay back again to rub her temples.

'There's no way I could get any of them to talk to me; unless I tell them the truth about the whole situation, but that's too risky right now. Aggh! I need to go for a walk to clear my mind and get rid of this

headache.'

She got up and hid all her information and looked at the clock. Its four o'clock, I got a few hours before it gets dark, and with that she walked out the door.

***

Earlier that day Sakura had talked Naruto into going to the park to play soccer with her after school. Her parents were gone on a business trip for the weekend, and she hadn't wanted to go home to her quiet

house at the time. It was about 6 o'clock, and they were finishing up their game. Sakura had the ball, and was running up the field towards Naruto. Naruto started sprinting towards her, she faked a left and then

took it right, sending Naruto stumbling. Sakura flew past him while he was still trying to compose himself.

"HaHa!" she laughed, running full speed towards the goal.

Naruto pivoted, and took off after the pinkette.

Sakura had let her guard down, believing that she had out done him. However, at that moment, she felt and hand on her hip and heard "Gotcha!"

"EEK!" she yelped, and lost her footing.

She closed her eyes, preparing to face plant, when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and spin her upwards. She then landed on something soft. She lay there a few seconds until she heard a groan from

under her. She rolled over, slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She was mere centimeters from Naruto's face, and a slight blush tinted her cheeks.

They lay there, looking into each other's eyes until Naruto spoke. "You know, I really like this position and all, but could you get up. I think you crushed my nuts."

"Sorry!" she exclaimed as she jumped up.

Naruto groaned and rolled over onto his side, holding his bits.

Sakura knelt beside him and placed a hand on his arm "You okay?"

"Just fine" he squeaked in a high pitched voice. "Give me a sec to catch my breath."

Sakura began a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Naruto just glared at her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she gasped as she wiped a tear from her eye. "You just sounded like you had inhaled some helium!"

"Glad to see my pain is so amusing for you." He sulked

Sakura put her forehead on his arm and continued to giggle.

"I feel so loved." He retorted, rolling his eyes.

Sakura sat up, still giggling, and grabbed his hand to help him up.

They stood, and started walking home, Naruto walking with a slight limp. They were about half way home when Sakura had finally stopped giggling. Naruto just pouted and walked with his hands in his jean

pockets.

"Sorry Naruto. You're just too funny!" Sakura finally said after her giggles had died.

"I'm glad you think so." He pouted and looked the other way.

"Aww! Don't be like that." Sakura said as she walked closer to Naruto and wrapped her right arm around his left. Naruto felt himself blush at the sudden contact.

"Please don't be mad at me." Sakura pleaded "I'm really glad that you saved me from busting my face open. I really am. It's just that your voice was so funny. I couldn't help it."

Naruto then looked at her, and saw that adorable pout on her face.

"Don't." he said.

"Don't what." Sakura said grinning a bit.

"That look."

"Why?" she innocently asked.

Naruto just signed in defeat. He wanted to be mad at her, but he just couldn't. Not with that look on her face.

"Fine. I forgive you." He said. "You know… you could get away with murder with that look."

Sakura just laughed and moved closer to Naruto.

Naruto glanced at her through the corner of his eye, sweat forming on is temple. 'That's strange. She's being so nice. What's she planning?! ' He thought getting a little nervous.

Sakura felt so peaceful and secure with his arm in hers, that she didn't even notice how nervous Naruto was becoming.

'Well, in a couple of months we'll be graduating. I haven't got much time left on that dead line that Kaiah gave me. Maybe we could hang out and do something fun tomorrow and I can tell him then.' Sakura was

thinking to herself.

Sakura was brought out of her train of thought when Naruto stopped abruptly and pulled her behind him. In their path were 5 guys dressed in black baggy jeans and dark blue tank tops.

"Well, Well Naruto. Long time no see." One of the guys spoke; he looked like the leader to the little group.

"Not long enough if you ask me." Naruto shot back.

"I see you still have a smart ass mouth." The guy said as he glared at Naruto.

"What do you want?" Naruto growled.

The leader just looked over at Sakura and grinned. That grin sent chills down Sakura's spine.

Naruto caught that disturbing grin and felt Sakura shudder against his back.

"Leave her out of this Hidan. She has nothing to do with this, it's between us." Naruto growled, getting a little panicked.

The group of guys started laughing. "Ain't that cute? He wants to protect his little girlfriend." one of them said. Sakura blushed at this, but didn't really didn't want to deny it, even if it wasn't true.

"You know what we want Naruto." Hidan just smiled. "And we'll just take pinky there for leverage." And the group began to circle them.

"You'll keep your damn hands off her, or I'll kill you. You know I will." Naruto snarled, sounding like some sort of animal.

The group paused for a moment, then Hidan spoke "Oh I know what you are capable of Naruto, that's why I brought some friends along. 5 against 1, you don't stand a chance this time." Then the group moved

forward.

Sakura began to become terrified. 'What do they want with me? Are they going to try and use me to blackmail Naruto into something? Wait, he said this time. Have they fought before?' she thought. The thought of

Naruto being in danger really ticked her off. 'How dare they do this to him!' she screamed in her mind, going from terrified to pissed in all but 2 seconds.

"Get down!" Naruto yelled as he pulled Sakura to the ground as a dagger was swung above their heads.

Naruto reached both hands into his back pockets, and then spun to the right, blocking the attacker that came at Sakura.

"Shit!" the guy screamed, holding his hand as blood started pouring from it.

Sakura jumped up into her fighting stance, standing back to back with Naruto. She glanced at him, and was surprised. He was in his fighting stance as well, but on his hands he wore what looked like brass

knuckles, but they were silver with blades protruding off the ends.

"So they wanna fight huh? Fine! Let's do this" shouted Hidan, and his group charged forward, and so did Naruto and Sakura.

***

Kaiah walked slowly under the cherry blossom trees with her hands in the pockets of her black capri's as the wind gently blew her baby blue shirt and her long dark hair. Kaiah was just enjoying the view. 'Japan

really is beautiful.' she thought as she looked out over the lake. She stopped walking when she noticed someone sitting in on the bench by the water's edge. She started walking towards the figure. As she got

closer, she stopped and blushed at the sight of this familiar person. The breezed ruffled his red hair and the low sun made his skin glow and his green eyes sparkle. 'Wow.' Kaiah mentally drooled. She jumped

slightly when he turned to look at her.

"Hi." He smiled.

Kaiah felt her heart start racing when he smiled at her. "Hi." She replied back as she walked forward to take the seat beside Gaara.

"So what brought you out of your studies this evening?" Gaara asked.

"I just needed some fresh air before my head exploded." Kaiah replied with a grin.

Gaara started chuckling, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been working my fingers numb on this senior project."

"I decided to take a walk and look at the scenery to try and clear my head. It really is beautiful here." Kaiah said.

"Yeah, it is beautiful. But the company makes it even better." Gaara replied, blushing a little. Kaiah was also blushing.

Both sat in silence, enjoying the view and each other's company.

"So." Gaara broke the silence. "Where's Naruto? I didn't see him after school."

Kaiah began giggling "He and Sakura went to the park to play some soccer after school."

"I see." Gaara said grinning.

Then both just busted out laughing.

"Seriously, those two just need to go on and hook up already." said Kaiah as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah. I think so too. But this is Naruto and Sakura we're talking about. They're so stubborn. It'll take something big to get those two together." said Gaara.

"Yeah. Well that something big needs to happen before graduation. That's Sakura's dead line." Kaiah said.

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked.

Kaiah just winked at him. "It's a secret." she smiled.

Gaara's heart leapt into his throat when Kaiah winked at him, and that's when he decided that he loved Kaiah's smile. Not the fake one's that she throws up, but the genuine ones, the one's that she hardly ever

shows.

"Hey, wanna walk over to the park and see what those two are up to?" Gaara asked, a little mischievously.

"Absolutely." Kaiah said with a mischievous twinkle in her own eyes.

They got up and started walking and chatting. Kaiah found out that Gaara could play a base guitar fairly well, and that Naruto and him would usually just hang out playing and creating songs. Gaara found out that

Kaiah also played guitar like Naruto, but she would go over to Tamari's and play with them.

They were talking about the four of them getting together some time and playing, when a series of thoughts struck Kaiah, 'Is this what it's like to be truly happy? Will I be able to go back to what I was before I

met them? Or can I give up that life and start a new one here? But wait! Will they accept me if they know the truth about who I am, or will they see me as a monster?'

Gaara had noticed her sudden silence, and was studying her face as they continued to walk. So many emotions were flying across her face, first happy, then confusion, then sadness. Gaara was starting to get

worried about his boarder line bipolar friend. Gaara had seen her struggle with showing her emotions before, but now they were moving so fast that he was concerned.

"Hey, Kaiah?"

"Kaiah?"

"Hey Kaiah!" Gaara had to practically yell as he touched her arm.

"Huh? Sorry spaced out there for a bit." She said as she placed a fake smile on.

Gaara frowned at her ploy. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about how nice it is to have such great friends like you guys." Kaiah said.

Gaara just looked at her.

"I've never had any friends. I was always too busy with my work to make any, or either people just saw me as a monster." Kaiah said sadly.

"Why would people see you as a monster?" Gaara asked.

"It's a long story. I really don't feel like talking about it right now." Kaiah replied.

"Kaiah."

"Yeah."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Gaara said.

"I know. I'll tell you about it later. I promise." Kaiah said.

"Okay. I'll be waiting." Gaara winked, which made Kaiah blush.

They walked a little further when Kaiah looked at her watch.

"Hey, it's after 6, think those two might be home already?" Kaiah asked.

"Yeah, probably." Gaara replied.

As they turned to head back, they heard shouts and screams coming from further down.

"That sounds like Naruto!" Kaiah shouted as she took off in the direction of the shouts.

"And Sakura too!" replied Gaara as he took off behind Kaiah.

At the moment, Naruto and Sakura were in a battle for their lives. Everyone, except for Sakura, was sporting a weapon of some sort, from pocket knives to daggers and it was all Naruto could do to keep any

weapons from hitting Sakura.

"OH HELL NO!" Sakura screamed as she turned to face the guy that had just grabbed her ass.

Naruto was busy with Hidan and the other cronies. Since they seemed to think that Sakura wasn't something to worry about they had ganged up on Naruto after they had finally separated him from Sakura.

"I'm going to kill you before all this is over Hidan." Naruto glared as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"As if! You can't win! It's four against one! Just give up!" Hidan shouted as the group charged at Naruto again.

Sakura was ducking and dodging her opponent's knife as fast as she could.

Her opponent just laughed as he charged towards Sakura "Give it up pinky; you're no match for me!"

Sakura just smirked. Oh how she loved it when her opponents underestimated her!

Sakura dodged to the right, getting behind her opponent. He turned and swung his knife at her.

Sakura dropped to the ground in a crouch with a smirk on her face as she thought'Gotcha!'

Sakura spun on her left foot, while extending her right leg in a swift low kick.

The guy was completely caught off guard as his feet were taken out from under him. As he fell, Sakura came up to deliver a round house kick to the guy's side, sending him flying a few feet past the group that was

fighting Naruto.

"What the hell!?" one of the guys shouted, and the rest of the group turned to see Sakura shoot past them.

Sakura's opponent was up, but it was too late. As he stood to his feet, Sakura threw an upper cut with her right fist, and while the guy was falling back, she delivered a left hook to the side of his face. A sickening

crunch was heard and the guy flew a few feet to the right, landing in the middle of his group, unmoving.

"And what!" shouted Sakura, slightly bend and panting with her left arm still extended.

"Screw the plan!" Hidan yelled, shaking with fury.

"You two!" he yelled pointing to the guys on his left. "Take her out!"

The two charged at Sakura, and she took her fighting stance.

"NOOOOO!" Naruto shouted in a low and dark voice as he lunged forward.

Hidan's partner turned, but all too late.

His gargled grunt was all that was heard as Naruto's blade embedded itself into the side of his neck, blood splattering to the ground.

Naruto aimed his other blade at Hidan, but he dodged, so Naruto opted for a right hook instead.

Naruto made contact, and once Hidan was on the ground, he rushed forward to Sakura.

Sakura was sweaty and tired, but she had managed to punch one guy in the face, breaking his nose.

While he was on the ground gripping his nose, blood spilling between his fingers and onto the sidewalk, his partner had come at Sakura from behind, pocket knife at the ready.

Sakura turned, and things began to move in slow motion. She stumbled backwards, and all she saw was the blade coming at her.

Sakura threw up her arms in a crisscross pattern in front of her face and waited for the blow.

Sakura then felt strong arms around her and a warm, wet liquid splash onto her face, but she felt no pain.

Sakura moved her arms and slowly opened her eyes, her green meeting blue.

She gasped, and tears began streaming down her face as she gripped the shirt in front of her.

"NARUTOOOO!!!"

****

Dun, Dun, Dun! Cliffie! Anyways, thank you to all those who reviewed, and all the new Fav Story adds. I really appreciate it! Wind797, I'm working your scene into the next chapter 

**= ) LOL! It's gonna be good! Other suggestions are also welcome. They may or may not be used, depending on if they go with what I have planned, but I would like the suggestions anyway. And **

**remember, the more reviews, the faster I will post, so you know what to do! Follow the arrow!**

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	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else. The only thing I own is Kaiah, she is my own character.

Secrets Chapter 5

"NARUTOOOO!"

The name of the terrified scream from her best friend sent Kaiah into a frenzy. She picked up speed, leaving Gaara behind, and rounded the corner like a crazed animal.

'Oh God no! Please no!' she screamed in her head as she ran forward.

The scene before her stopped her heart.

Naruto wrapped protectively around Sakura with a Browning hunting knife protruding from his right shoulder blade, and Sakura trying to gently lower an unconscious Naruto to the ground while pulling the knife free with tears and blood running down her face.

Kaiah didn't think. No logical analyzing like usual, no calm calculation, she just snapped.

She charged forward, letting her emotions guide her.

"Naruto!" Gaara shouted as he rounded the corner and ran towards his best friend.

"What the fu…!" the men spun to look at the intruder, but the man on the right side of Hidan was interrupted before he could finish his statement by what felt like a semi truck coming in contact with his face.

He lay on the ground motionless, blood starting to seep into the cement of the sidewalk, Hidan and the other man glared up to see an enraged Kaiah standing protectively in front of Naruto and Sakura like a panther, breathing hard with her teeth bared and ready to pounce.

In one swift movement, she sprang, "You're dead!"

Hidan knew that he had lost this fight. With three of his men taken out, he needed to retreat and regroup.

As they turned to make their getaway, they were cloths lined by Gaara who had circled behind them while their attention was on Kaiah.

They scrambled to get away, but Gaara lashed out at one of the thugs with a kick to his head, and Kaiah mercilessly tackled Hidan to the ground.

Straddling his front and pinning his arms at his sides, Kaiah gripped the man's shirt, slightly lifting him off the ground, while she reared her left arm back.

She recognized his face from one of the newspaper articles she had read.

He had been arrested on the account of suspicion to murder in one of the Namikaze cases. He had somehow managed to walk free with the help of a lawyer that Yukio had supplied.

'Why is everyone after Naruto!' she mentally screamed as her rage took hold, her bloodlust griping her with full force.

Gaara and Sakura stared in horror as Kaiah repeatedly slammed her fist into Hidan's face, dragging a trail of blood behind it every time she reared back.

Gaara finally jumped forward, unable to watch anymore, and caught Kaiah's arm as she reared back again.

Kaiah then glared at Gaara, and their eyes met.

The hate and anguish that radiated from Kaiah's seemingly crimson eyes, almost made Gaara pull back, but the pain that he felt in his chest from seeing so much hurt those eyes made him hold on.

Besides, this wasn't the first time he'd seen her lose control, it had happened at school too.

"Kaiah, screw him, we need to get Naruto help." Gaara said in his stern and calming voice.

Slowly Kaiah's eyes returned to their brilliant blue as she stood up.

"You're right." She said as she turned and Gaara and her sprinted towards Naruto.

Sakura was in so much shock right now, it was amazing that she hadn't passed out by now, but Naruto need her and hell would freeze over before she gave into her weakened state.

She had torn the cloth from the bottom of her shirt, and while she cradled Naruto against herself, she pressed the cloth against his back to help stop the bleeding.

"Don't you dare think about leaving me, you hear. I've still got some things to say to you." Sakura told him.

Sakura looked up in time to see Kaiah collapse to her knees on the other side of Naruto grasping his wrist to feel for his pulse, while Gaara whipped out his cell to call for help.

"Naruto!" Kaiah cried. "You stay with me you hear. We're gonna get you some help."

"Hello." Gaara heard the female answer on the other end.

"Tsunade, Naruto's been hurt."

"What? By who?"

"Hidan and a group of his lackeys."

"His pulse is dropping. He's had too much blood loss, he's gonna need a transfusion and we need to stop the bleeding, and stat!" Kaiah yelled to Gaara.

"Hear that." Gaara asked.

"I'm on it." Tsunade clicked off.

"Do any of you have a lighter?" Kaiah asked.

"I do." Gaara stated.

"Give it here."

"Why?" Gaara asked as he handed Kaiah the lighter.

"I've got to stop the bleeding. Sakura get his shirt off."

Sakura put the bloody rag down and started to remove Naruto's shirt while Kaiah grabbed the knife and held the flame of the lighter to it.

"Alright Sakura, turn him towards you so I can get to his wound."

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked.

"I'm going to try and cauterize the wound as much as possible to stop the bleeding."

Then Kaiah pressed the edge of the heated blade to Naruto's shoulder, trying to melt the skin together.

Naruto sucked a breath in while he gritted his teeth together.

"He's responsive, that good!" Kaiah exclaimed as she held the blade over the lighter again.

"That's brilliant Kaiah." Gaara stated and Sakura nodded her head in agreement as Kaiah continued to work.

Kaiah had finished cauterizing the wound, when a black Suburban pulled up to the curve.

Kaiah jumped up, ready to fight, as a man about 6 feet, with long white hair jumped out and ran towards them.

"Jiraiya, he needs his personal doctor." Gaara told the man as he approached.

"I know, I've already made the call, and she'll be waiting at the house for us."

Kaiah relaxed at hearing who this man was, however…

"He needs a blood transfusion and a few stitches, how is the doctor going to do that if we don't take him to the hospital."

"She's already on top of that."

Kaiah just stared at him while he examined her work.

"This is great." Jiraiya stated as he lightly touched the wounded area. "This must be your work Miss Somerset."

Kaiah gaped "How do you know who I am?"

"There's a lot I know about you." He stated as he gathered Naruto in his arms and started for the SUV.

"Hurry up and get in!" Jiraiya ushered them into the back of the SUV with Naruto as Gaara climbed into the front beside Jiraiya.

"What about them?" Sakura pointed to the haphazardly strewn men on the ground as Jiraiya sped down the road.

"Tsunade will handle it, and cover all the evidence that may lead back to you guys." Jiraiya stated.

When they arrived back at the house, a worried Iruka came rushing out the door and was followed by a woman in a black dress with a white sash and short black hair.

"Naruto!" cried Iruka as Jiraiya gently gathered him from Sakura's lap.

"Shizune, he needs a transfusion and some stitches." Jiraiya said.

"I know. It's already set up in the basement." the woman called Shizune answered.

The group swiftly gathered in the basement, and Sakura and Kaiah were stunned.

The basement had been set up like a mini doctor's office, equipped with surgical instruments and what seemed like a small operating table.

Jiraiya laid Naruto on the table, and Shizune quickly got to work.

"I can help." Kaiah walked next to Naruto.

Shizune looked up quizzically at Kaiah.

"I've had some basic nurses training." Kaiah simply stated with eagerness in her eyes.

"Good, I could use the help." Shizune smiled up at her.

They hooked the pint of blood up to Naruto, and then hung it on a hook coming off the table.

"This cauterizing job was skillfully executed. Who did it?" asked Shizune.

"I did." Kaiah stated while Shizune looked at her in surprise.

"Told you I had some training." Kaiah simply shrugged.

Everything went off without a hitch. Naruto had two pints of blood transfused into his system and was stabilized, and Shizune only had to put a couple of stitches in since Kaiah's patch had done such a good job.

Jiraiya then scooped up Naruto and carried him to his room, Sakura falling in behind as the rest of the group assembled in the living room.

At 11 pm Jiraiya came downstairs while Sakura stayed by Naruto's side. Tsunade and Kakashi showed up shortly after to deliver the details of the cleanup job that had been done.

"Only two were alive after being transported to the hospital and examined." Tsunade went on to explain.

"Two were pronounced on scene, and Hidan was pronounced in route to the hospital."

At this Gaara glanced at Kaiah, who had collapsed next to him on the couch after Naruto was carried to his room, and tired to read her expression. Her eyes held no emotion at the information, which shook Gaara slightly.

'How can she kill two people in one night and not have any repercussions, show no sign of remorse?' he wondered.

"I also had a Captain of the U.S Navy Seals show up, insisting that they handle the cover up." Tsunade directed at Kaiah.

Everyone turned to Kaiah in question at this.

'Damn!' she thought 'I wasn't ready to discuss this yet.'

"I thought you said that you knew all about me Jiraiya." Kaiah calmly stated.

"The only things I know are what Iruka told me and just a few things I found in research. Would you like to share with us the rest of your background?" he stated as he eyed Kaiah.

"Yes." Kakashi agreed. "Do tell us a little more about yourself and why you're really here."

"Gaara." Kaiah said.

"Yes."

"Would you go check and make sure that Sakura is with Naruto, and that neither of them can hear this conversation that we are about to have."

"Sure." Gaara got up and headed up stairs.

As he peaked into the room, he found Naruto sleeping peacefully, and Sakura's head resting by his leg as she too had succumbed to sleep.

Gaara almost ran back down the stairs, eager to hear what Kaiah had to say. Kaiah had promised to tell him what was going on, and it looked like he was going to get it right now.

After Gaara returned to the living room he took his seat beside Kaiah and assured her that Naruto and Sakura were both sleeping.

Kaiah sat up straight on the end of the couch.

"What I'm about to tell you is highly classified, but in exchange for the information that I am about to divulge to you, I want to know all about Yukio and what he wants with Naruto."

Everyone gasped.

"How do you know anything about Yukio?" Tsunade asked, surprise in her voice.

"Yukio is one of the reasons that I am here." Kaiah looked directly into Tsunade's eyes. "Now, do we have a deal? After I'm finished, you'll understand why I need that information."

Tsunade looked deep into Kaiah's eyes. Something about her eyes screamed 'warrior' to Tsunade, and deep down she could see the wisdom and knowledge of an older woman, and something else that put her on edge.

"I'll listen to your story, and in return I'll give you the information on Yukio, but in the end, it will be up to Naruto to tell you about his side of the story." Tsunade informed Kaiah.

"Fair enough." Kaiah said. "Now, where to begin?"

OMG. It's been forever since I've posted. Sorry for the late update. I've been so busy with school. I don't get any breaks with online classes, but I have taken a small break and now have time to update my story. I want to thank everyone that has reviewed from the bottom of my heart! It has encouraged me to continue my story. I hope to update another chapter very soon. So, has anyone figured out who Kaiah is, or what Naruto has gotten into? **remychan12**, you've almost hit the nail on the head. And **Wind797, **your scene is going to be a major play in the next chapter. Anyways, please read and review. And remember, the more reviews I get, the harder I'll work to get the next chapter out. Again thanks a million!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else that may be used. Kaiah, however, is my character that I made up.

Secrets Chapter 6

Sakura sat up slowly, wiping the sleep from her eyes; memories from the past few hours running through her mind.

She looked at Naruto and found him still sleeping soundly. She just watched him sleep for a moment. Running her hand through Naruto's hair she thought 'Where those men part of the reason that you turned your back on everyone?'

She then ran her hand over his fore head to check his temperature, and then checked his pulse. Everything was fine, and she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

He had truly scared her tonight, and for a few antagonizing moments she thought she was going to lose him. But even through it all, she finally came to a realization. She had fallen for Naruto, and she fell hard, it wasn't just some crush. Sakura was totally and completely in love with him, and this night had made her realize just how much she needed him in her life.

He had pushed past her guarded heart. He made her smile, even when she didn't want to; he brought out the good and the bad in her.

And not only that, but she had brought out a change in him. He showed more of his old self, and that was the part that she loved about him.

Sakura then got up and went to the adjacent bathroom to get a cool, wet washcloth. She could hear the others talking downstairs as she left the bathroom, but she just ignored it.

After she had finished wiping the sweat off Naruto's face, she sat back in her chair and rested her head beside Naruto's thigh, content in watching the rise and fall of his chest. Grasping his hand in hers, she drifted off to sleep.

Everyone looked at Kaiah, stunned to say the least.

"When do you plan on telling Naruto?" Kakashi finally asked.

"I'm not telling him anything until we can get Yukio." Kaiah replied.

"But this is important! He needs to know the truth!" Iruka exclaimed. "It's not fair to him."

Kaiah glared at Iruka "I know that he deserves the truth! I know better than anyone that he deserves the truth! But just think about what Yukio could do with that information, or what Naruto would do if he were to find out. You know how rash he can get, and with that information he could do something reckless."

"She's right." Tsunade stated looking at Iruka. "And you know how he runs his mouth. He could let the information slip by accident."

"That's right, Tsunade." Kaiah agree. "It could jeopardize everything, and I need to be able to move around freely and undetected."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now that that's settled, none of this information leaves the room. Understood? It could put Naruto in even more danger." Kaiah said.

A chorus of agreement was heard throughout the room.

"How do you intend to get Naruto to agree to tell everything that he knows?" Gaara finally asked.

Kaiah couldn't face Gaara. She was too afraid to see his eyes, to see if he would reject her like everyone else that she had attempted to build a relationship with had.

Without making eye contact, she stated "I have my ways. Now if you'll excuse me, I need some fresh air."

Slowly she rose from the couch and ascended the stairs to make her way to her favorite thinking spot on the upper patio.

She flopped down on the brown wicker love seat, and just looked at the stars.

Right now she felt really alone, and for the first time in her life she needed someone, needed Naruto.

She loved the way he was easy to talk to and how he would listen. She loved how he comforted her and made her feel special. He was the first person in her life to do that besides her mother. And tonight's events shook her up more than anyone. She could have lost him forever, and that thought petrified her.

Silent tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she continued to stare at the stars, a tradition that Naruto and her would do almost every night. But tonight Naruto wasn't by her side, and it left her feeling cold and empty causing more tears to fall into her lap.

The sound of the sliding door opening and closing pulled her from her thoughts, and when she turned around, she found Iruka walking towards her, smiling sadly.

"May I join you?" he asked.

Kaiah could only nod, and Iruka sat down beside Kaiah.

"I'm sorry I got so upset." Iruka said. "It's just that Naruto is like a son to me, and I love him dearly, and at the time I just didn't think it was fair. I wasn't looking at the entire picture. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's okay, it's been a rough night and I know you only had Naruto's best interest in mind, at least in an emotional aspect." Kaiah stated.

Iruka just smiled at her. "I know that this night has been hardest on you, and I want to thank you for all that you did tonight. You did a great job. You saved his life you know?"

Kaiah blushed at the sincerity and praise in his voice. "He means a lot to me. I would do anything to keep him safe."

"I know." Iruka said as he put his arm around Kaiah and pulled her into a semi hug. "I also want to thank you for the change in Naruto. He's been hiding it for so long, refusing to show any sign of his heart, but you chiseled the hard exterior away, you and Sakura."

"His change has something to do with Yukio and whatever happened on his 16th birthday, doesn't it?" Kaiah asked.

"It does. But I have no doubts that you'll be able to get him to tell you." Iruka said. "You're an amazing person, and I feel so fortunate for you to have stumbled into our lives."

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." said Kaiah as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Iruka pulled her closer, and kissed her temple. "You've become like a daughter to me. You and Naruto are so special and I care deeply about both of you."

Iruka then lifted Kaiah's chin to face him. "It's okay to cry. Crying doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger. You always become stronger when you have someone precious to protect. Go on and cry, I'm right here for you."

Kaiah could only nod as she let her tears fall freely as she snuggled into Iruka's warmth. She finally had a father.

'Uggghh. I feel like I've been run over.' Naruto tried to blink away the brightness of the sun from his eyes.

When he tried to shift his weight he felt something clinging to his hand and a weight near his leg. Turning slightly, he could make out a mop of pink hair by his leg.

'Sakura?' he thought.

Then he heard soft snoring to his right. Turning away from Sakura, he could make out Kaiah laying on his black futon with her left leg dangling over the side and her face buried in the half that was still up.

'What the heck happened, and how long have I been out of it?' he wondered.

He tried to sit up some, but a hiss escaped his mouth when his shoulder throbbed with pain.

"Naruto?" Sakrua asked, bolting upright.

"Hey." He replied, smiling weakly as he sat himself upright and leaned against the headboard.

"Oh Naruto! You're awake! Oh thank God!" Sakrua flung herself on top of Naruto, crushing him in a hug.

"Oww!Oww!Oww! Sakura!"

"Oh sorry! I'm just so happy that you're finally awake! We've been so worried!" Sakura said as she pulled away from Naruto, wiping her tears.

"Sshappenin? Wunder attack?" Kaiah slurred as she bolted then flipped off the futon and hit the floor with a thud.

Naruto laughed until he cried, and Sakura had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from snorting out loud.

Kaiah used the comforter of Naruto's bed to pull herself up, and then shot Naruto a glare when her eyes finally looked above the side of his bed.

Naruto only laughed harder, gasping "That's.. the .. best.. wake up.. I've..ever..had!"

Kaiah finally got herself off the floor, fists clenched, growling "Think that's funny huh?"

Naruto gulped, afraid for the worst, when Kaiah shocked him by wrapping him in fierce hug.

"I'm just happy to hear you laugh again." she whispered in his ear.

Kaiah pulled back slightly and looked into Naruto's eyes as she cupped his face in her hands.

Naruto could only see love, worry, and relief in her eyes.

Naruto softly smiled as he reached up and held her wrists in place and leaned forward until their foreheads touched.

"I'm sorry I worried you." he whispered as Kaiah's tears of joy ran down her face.

They heard Sakura running down the stairs yelling "He's awake! He's awake!" causing them to giggle as they pulled apart.

Within two seconds, they heard foots steps running up the stairs, and when they looked at the door Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, Iruka, Shizune, and Gaara came busting in with Sakura.

"Hey guys." Naruto grinned, while Kaiah snickered.

Relief flooded the room and the worry and tension melted off everyone.

"You've had us worried sick." Tsunade said as she sat on the bed by Naruto and leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Naruto blushed as gave her a small smile and took her hand in his.

"I'm sorry I worried you Grandma Tsunade. I know you've had to work extra hard and pull some major strings to cover this up."

"It's okay; you were only trying to protect someone precious to you. I'm just glad that you're okay and acting more like you're old self." she kissed his forehead again, then got up.

"I'll check up on you later. I need to head down to the station and wrap all this up. See you all later." she said as she left.

"Bye" everyone chorused.

"I think we're going to head out too." Jiraiya said as he and Kakashi walked up to the bed.

"We'll also check up on you later." Kakashi said as Jiraiya ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Okay. Thanks you guys. I really appreciate everything you've done." Naruto said.

Jiraiya looked over at Sakura and Kaiah as he and Kakashi were walking out, "You two make sure he follows Shizune's orders."

They just smiled and nodded as everyone else said bye.

The rest of the morning passed by quickly. Iruka helped Kaiah make something called french toast for brunch for everyone, and afterwards Shizune gave Naruto some heavy sleeping medicine to help him sleep through the pain in his shoulder. That afternoon while Naruto was sleeping, Shizune decided that she needed to head home to wrap up a few things while Iruka, Kaiah and Gaara headed to town to pick up some groceries, leaving Sakura to watch over Naruto.

Sakura still had not washed the dirt and grime off of herself from last night, so she decided a quick shower would be nice, so she grabbed some of Kaiah's clothes and got in the shower. She left the door slightly open so she could hear Naruto if he called out for anything.

"That feels nice" she murmured as the hot water ran over her aching body.

While Sakura was bathing, Naruto began to stir.

'Damn!' he thought as the sunlight assaulted his eyes once again. 'Those drugs make me feel worse!'

Sitting up slowly so he wouldn't make himself dizzy, Naruto yawned and ran his hand through his hair.

"Gross!" he yelped as he felt all the mud and blood in his hair.

'Guess it's time for a shower.' he thought as he slowly pulled himself from his bed and stood on slightly shaky feet.

After getting his bearings, Naruto grabbed some clothes and made his way to the bathroom.

Without thinking about the half open door in front of him he flung the door wide open, and stopped dead in his tracks, blinking a few times with his mouth hanging wide open.

There was Sakura, facing him, frozen mid reach for the pink towel on her left looking horrified, her damp hair falling over her shoulders and her creamy skin glowing.

"….."

"…."

"Wow." Naruto whispered as blood began to run from his nose.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Sakura screamed as she snatched the towel and quickly wrapped herself in it.

Naruto quickly panicked "Sorry! Sorry! I-I just…I didn't m-mean…." he stuttered.

"Get out!" Sakura screamed as she threw the shampoo bottle at Naruto.

Naruto scrambled back to his room, ducking toiletries as he went.

Slamming the door shut, Sakura collapsed on the toilet, blushing madly.

'Oh my God! Naruto just saw me totally naked!' she inwardly screamed.

'Yeah. Did you see the look on his face.' her inner self sighed dreamly.

'What!' she screamed at her inner self.

'Oh come on. You know you totally loved it.' inner self snickered.

'I-I don't know what your t-talking about.' Sakura stuttered back.

'Hn. Whatever. At least now he knows that we're more woman than those bimbos he was with could ever hope to be.' inner self shrugged.

'Yeah….. hey!'

'I say that we sneak a peek while he's in the shower.' inner self drooled.

'Pervert.' Sakura growled.

Sakura quickly got dressed, and went back to Naruto's room.

When Sakura walked in, Naruto jumped up off the bed.

"I'm sorry Sakura! I didn't mean to! I'd just woke up and wasn't paying attention! I'm sorry!" he pleaded with his hands up as he backed up from an advancing Sakura.

"Naruto." Sakura said, almost seductively when she finally had him cornered against the wall.

Naruto snapped his eyes shut when he saw Sakura's arms move, preparing himself for a beating.

"Here." Sakura whispered.

Naruto carefully opened his eyes, and saw Sakura smiling softly, holding out his clothes to him.

"Huh?"

"It's your turn. You're starting to small." Sakura smiled up at him.

"You're not mad?" Naruto asked.

"It was an accident Naruto. I can't be mad over an accident." she said as Naruto took his clothes from her.

"Umm… okay." he said slowly, and carefully made his way to the door.

"Naruto." Sakura called, and Naruto turned around.

"I'm going to go make dinner, but we need to talk later, okay." Sakura smiled at him.

"Okay." Naruto smiled back, and then headed to get his shower.

Sakura headed to the kitchen to whip up something for everyone to eat.

Smirking to herself as she went, "I do love to see him beg."

**Okay everyone, hope ya'll liked this chapter. I wanted to get it out before Hurricane Earl hits just in case my computer is out of commission for a few days. To my devoted fan **_**Wind 797**_** I finally got your part in, and it totally works for what I have set up next. I want to know what other ideas you may have. To **_**Nayrutofreak**_** I want to personally thank you for the inspiring review. And to everyone else who has reviewed and added my story to your favs (I'd post them all, but you'd be reading for awhile), thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Please review, and if anyone has any suggestions for scenes I'm totally open for new ideas.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclamer: I do not own Naruto, however Kaiah is my character that I made up.**

**Chapter 7**

Ever since Kaiah had talked with everyone, she had been avoiding Gaara like the plague, and it was starting to drive him up the wall.

It was late in the evening and Gaara sighed as he walked to Naruto's house. It had been two days since the fight and Naruto was doing much better, but Kaiah had not looked a him once and would bolt from the room if they were left alone.

When he arrived at Naruto's he found that Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Kakashi were all present as well.

"Just in time." Iruka said to Gaara as he emerged from the kitchen. "Kaiah and I are almost done with dinner, have a seat."

Gaara just nodded and joined the others in the living room.

"Where's Naruto and Sakura?" he asked.

"Sakura's upstairs redressing Naruto's wound." Tsunade replied.

Everything was silent for a bit, and it made Gaara feel a tad uncomfortable.

As if reading Gaara's mind Kakashi looked at him and said "Kaiah's going to try and get Naruto to talk to her tonight, and we're hear to help if we can."

'Ah, that's why things feel a little tense right now' Gaara thought, then smirking 'Wonder what Kaiah's got up her sleeve?'

But just thinking about Kaiah made his heart sink. What had he done to make her act this way towards him.

While Gaara was musing, the others were studying Gaara as his face would make quirky expressions as he thought.

Kakashi sighed as he placed his hand on Gaara's shoulder, making Gaara snap out of his thoughts and look at the silver haired man.

"I know Kaiah's been acting strange around you, but just give her time to adjust to everything."

Gaara just stared at the man as he continued.

"Kaiah's had a hard life, and right now she's confused and doesn't know what to do. She wants to reach out to you, but is afraid."

"But I'm her friend, what is she afraid of?" Gaara asked, searching everyone in the room for an answer.

"Gaara." Shizune smiled sadly, "Kaiah is afraid of rejection."

"Wha…" Gaara started, but Shizune put her hand up for him to stop.

"Kaiah has never had anyone stick by her side. She's been alone for years because of her status and her reputation. Everyone that she's tried to love leaves her for fear of what she is."

"But that Clyde guy obviously likes her, the way he follows her around, and it's not just because it's his job." Gaara frowned.

"But even he left her for another woman." Tsunade spoke up. " For fear of what Kaiah is, he left her, because Kaiah is not a normal woman and the average man wants an normal woman."

"But I'm not an average man!" Gaara almost yelled.

"We know that Gaara, but Kaiah doesn't." Tsunade and Gaara made eye contact. "If you were in her shoes, after being rejected for so long, and you spilled to beans to someone you've began to develop feeling for, how would you react?"

"I'd be afraid that they would reject me." and then it clicked for Gaara his eyes widening slightly, while everyone just smiled at him.

"Just keep being the friend that you are and give her some time, and she'll come around." Jiraiya spoke.

Gaara nodded, beginning to formulate a plan to help Kaiah understand that he wouldn't abandon her like all the others had, that he and all the other friends that she had made here would always stick by her side.

"Dinner's ready!" Kaiah shouted as she entered the living room.

Jiraiya jumped off the couch beaming, "What wonderful sustenance do we have to look forward to tonight?"

Kaiah laughed that wonderful laugh that Gaara loved so much. "We've having a favorite of mine from back home, it's called Chicken Pastry."

"If you made it, it'll be good." Gaara smiled at Kaiah.

Kaiah stood dumb struck, blushing like an idiot, while the others just smiled and walked into the kitchen.

"G-go on b-before it gets cold." Kaiah stuttered as she turned to go upstairs to get Naruto and Sakura, Gaara chuckling softly as he watched her ascend the stairs before he took his leave to the kitchen.

Dinner was wonderful. Everyone was fully surprised at how good the food was and they were laughing and sharing funny stories while they finished off their second and third plates.

After the dishes were washed, everyone retreated to the living room, where, unknown to Naruto, everyone was getting ready for the confrontation that was coming.

However, Naruto is not as dumb as many people make him out to be, and he knew that something was up when he saw Kaiah slowly make her way into the living room and everyone seemly tensed up.

"Kaiah?" he asked.

"Naruto…" Kaiah seemed to struggle to find her words, fiddling with her fingernails as she stood in front of Naruto. "I would like you to tell me why those guys were after you."

Naruto just looked at Kaiah, his face void of any emotion, but on the inside he was screaming.

"I know that it has something to do with what happened on your 16th birthday." Kaiah told him.

This time Naruto actually threw a glare at Iruka who was sitting across from him.

"I didn't tell her anything Naruto" Iruka said. "She figured it out on her own, but when she came to me about it, I told her that she needed to talk to you."

"What happened?" Kaiah asked quietly.

Naruto just looked away, and didn't answer.

"…."

"…."

"Naruto, please tell me, I want to help."

"I don't want anyone else to be dragged into this." Naruto hissed.

"What do you mean?" Kaiah said as she began to glare at Naruto.

"…."

"…."

Kaiah was beginning to lose her temper, "Naruto." she drug out.

Naruto in turn glared at Kaiah.

"…."

"…."

Everyone was very tense by now, and had actually started to retreat from the two.

"I asked you a question!" Kaiah barked.

Naruto jumped up into Kaiah's face "It's none of your, or Sakura's business!"

"Excuse me!" Kaiah yelled.

"It's. None. Of. Your. Business. So back off!"

Kaiah grabbed Naruto by his shirt with both hands and pulled him closer to her, seething with rage. "IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, I'M NOT DRAGGING ANYONE ELSE INTO THIS!"

Kaiah's eyes were almost red by now, "IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY NOTICED, WE'RE ALREADY APART OF THIS!"

"NO YOU'RE…." Naruto started but was cut off by Kaiah shaking him.

"SHUT UP!"

No one knew what to do, and only retreated further from the couple.

"SAKURA WAS ALMOST KIDNAPPED FOR BLACKMAIL AND I JUST KILLED TWO PEOPLE TO KEEP YOUR ASS ALIVE AND YOU TELL ME IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS!"

Naruto gapped at her in shock, no one had told him exactly what had happened after he blacked out.

Kaiah had tears of anger flowing down her face by now and was shaking with rage, "THERE'S BLOOD ON MY HANDS NOW NARUTO!" Kaiah screamed as she continued shaking Naruto.

"SAKURA AND I ARE INVOLDED NOW WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! I FREAKING WANT ANSWERS, AND I WANT THEM NOW DAMN IT!"

After Kaiah finally stopped shaking Naruto and his dizzy spell went away, he just stared at Kaiah dumb founded, and when he looked over at Sakura he saw tears running down her face too. Naruto didn't like making girls cry and looking at them crying made him feel like he'd been sucker punched.

'Kaiah's right," he though frowning 'They _are_ involved now.'

Kaiah had buried her face into Naruto's shirt and was openly sobbing now.

Sakura made her way to Naruto and gently grasped his hand, making Naruto turn to her.

"Please Naruto." she whispered, "We want to help."

Naruto's heart clenched as he looked at Sakura's blood shot eyes, that had bags under them and felt Kaiah's weak body against his. They had been so focused on making him better that they hardly took time to take care of themselves.

Naruto looked over to Gaara, taking in his ruffled appearance as well, silently asking him if it was a good idea.

"Kaiah's right." he said, "They're already involved. And after all they've witnessed, I think we own them the truth."

Naruto nodded, "Okay." he agreed.

He pulled Sakura and Kaiah to him in a hug and whispered, "You guys are exhausted from the whole experience this weekend, and I appreciate all you've done. The least I can do is tell you what's going on."

He smiled down at the girls as they pulled away from him.

Naruto tucked a strand of Sakura's pink hair behind her ear, then looked to each girl, "What I tell you cannot, and I mean _cannot_ leave this room, okay?"

Kaiah and Sakura nodded as they took a seat on the couch, while Naruto remained standing and started pacing.

"Geez, where to begin." he said.

"You could start with Yukio Namikaze." Kaiah suggested.

Naruto whipped his head around, shock written all over his face.

Kaiah just shrugged, "I do my research."

Naruto chucked, "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"Nope, not really." Kaiah smiled.

Naruto scratched his head as he continued, "Well, Yukio is my first cousin. The family was and still is into some….unethical and illegal dealings."

"Exactly what kind of dealings Naruto?" Kaiah asked.

"Everything really. Distribution of drugs, kidnapping young girls and selling them for slaves…" Naruto stopped pacing and looked at Kaiah, "But the major business was the black-market, selling military weapons to the highest bidder. They even have a lab where they work on developing new weapons."

"Seriously!" Kaiah gasped.

"Yeah, my dad was part of the business, but he didn't want to be. He actually took his half of the cut of the profit, unknown to the rest of the family, and left the country for awhile, but my Uncle eventually tracked him down and force him to come back."

"How come your family didn't know about the money? To be sure they would notice a chunk missing." Sakura asked.

"No, not really, with all the money moving in and out on the business, a couple billion missing would have easily been overlooked."

Kaiah and Sakura gasped.

"A couple billion!" Sakura said flabbergasted.

Naruto just nodded before he continued.

"Dad was allowed to come back without punishment and continue living like nothing had happened, but he was worried the whole time. Then he meet my mom."

Naruto gave a small smile, as he just looked at his feet.

"She was so special to him, and she refused to leave when he told her about the family. She told him they could find a way to be happy, that it wasn't fair for such a good man to have to deal with what he did and not have any happiness. So my dad asked if he could be moved to a different part of Japan to extend the business. He knew that if he fled again that they would find him, so he settled on a move so that my mom and him could be married and have a family in secret, and hopefully even add some inside support to the police to take down the business."

"Your mom must have been one strong woman to stay in a situation like that." Sakura said.

Naruto looked at her and smiled, "She was."

"They pulled it off for several years, but then…"

Naruto stopped and actually punched the wall as he spoke through clenched teeth, "But by the time I was five Yukio had taken over the business and had found out what dad was plotting, and by then he wanted all opposition to be eliminated, so he hired a hit man to take out the family and their ties, my dad being the first. My parents received a tip from a good friend that had overheard the dealings, Iruka actually, and when the men came, they shoved me in a closet, hiding me while I watched as they died trying to protect me. I was so shocked that I couldn't make a noise. I actually didn't talk to anyone for awhile."

Naruto took his fist out of the wall, and turned to face Kaiah and Sakura, pain etched in his eyes.

"They didn't know my mom's full name and they didn't know that I existed, so Iruka adopted me with her last name hoping to keep me safe and letting me live a normal, carefree life."

"But it didn't work out." Kaiah whispered.

"No, it didn't." Naruto sighed as he started to pace again.

"Yukio actually found out about the money that dad had taken and when he tired to withdraw it, he was declined. Dad had made a will stating that his children were the only ones allowed to touch it, and they could only get it when they graduated high school. Because of what was stated in the will, Yukio did some digging and figured out that I existed"

"Children?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that dad had planned on having more than just me." Naruto said, rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Wow." Kaiah said dumbstruck, and Naruto just looked at her. "He had it figured all out."

"Yeah, until Yukio screwed it up." Naruto gritted out.

Kaiah and Sakura just nodded.

Naruto continued, "I didn't find out any of this until my 16th birthday. Yukio had finally figured out who I was, and he paid me a visit while I was celebrating my birthday with Iruka and Gaara."

"So that's how come Gaara knows everything. You didn't tell him, he witnessed the whole thing." Sakura said, finally understanding how come Gaara was the only person Naruto had let stay around him.

"Yeah, that day changed my life." Naruto said sadly. "Yukio told me that he wanted the money and that if I didn't agree to it he would make my life a living hell. I didn't think nothing of it and told him to shove off. But.."

Naruto stopped and clenched his fists, "I was wrong. He used many threats to persuade me. Then he sent Hidan and some of his buddies to ruff me up, but I ended up killing one of them by accident. I've killed a couple of his other men, but Grandma Tsunade was able to intercept before Yukio could do anything. Yukio's hid the body of the first one I killed and left evidence pinning me as a murderer, and if I don't cooperate with his demands, he'll hand over the information to the police, thus sending me to prison."

"But Tsunade could have this cleared in no time." Sakura blurted out.

"It's not that easy." Naruto stated, "Only Yukio knows where that body is, and he has paid hands on the police force."

Kaiah and Sakura were both shocked.

"That's why I've been working secretly on this case with Jiraiya and Kakashi." Tsunade informed them. "I've been weeding out his hired help over the years, but he still has people on the inside. Jiraiya and Kakashi have been gathering evidence of all Yukio's crimes under the table. We've actually teamed up with the US military and other military and police forces from around the globe. Yukio's business is a danger to everyone."

"Naruto." Sakura sobbed as she started to cry again.

Naruto came over and sat between Kaiah and Sakura, and he put his arms around Sakura and pulled her too him.

"I felt like I didn't have anything in life left to live for, so why care about other people's feelings and what everyone thought about me. If no one's attached to me it'll be easier to keep them safe from Yukio, and safe from the pain he'll cause when he decides to eliminate me."

"Naruto." Kaiah jumped up and barked, shocking the blond. "Don't you dare talk like that. Everyone here, including Sakura and I, are going to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen! Got it!"

"Yes m'am!" Naruto grinned, for once happy that he allowed others to get close to him again.

He felt much better getting all that off his chest and having shared this important information with people that he loves. It's easier to deal with the pain with someone by his side he inwardly smiled as he held Sakura close and listened to Kaiah continue to rant and rave.

**Wow guys, sorry it's taken me so long to post. Hope ya'll like this chapter, it was very difficult to write since it is a more serious chapter. Well, there's one secret out and more drama and secrets to go. To **_**Wind 797, **_**my friend and faithful reader I need some more good ideas and you got em, help me please! To **_**Nayrutofreak**_**, thank you for the inspiring review, it really picked my spirits up writing this chapter. To everyone else that has faved and all, thanks so much!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto *such a pity*, but Kaiah is my own creation.**

Chapter 8

It had been a few days since the attempted kidnapping and Naruto's brush with death, and in the mean time Naruto had been healing at an exceptionally fast rate. Sakura was there every day after school and Kaiah would drift in and out of the house after school. Sakura and Kaiah had spread the rumor that Naruto had been stabbed by a robber in his attempt to protect Sakura. Most had accepted that rumor, but the few that had been close to him at one time had their suspicions.

"It looks much better now." Sakura told Naruto as she wrapped a new bandage around him as he sat on his bed with his back to her.

"It feels a lot better. I'm just glad I don't have to take those drugs anymore, they made me feel worse." Naruto stated.

"Well, at this rate you'll be ready to go back to class next week." Sakura told Naruto. "Exams will start in a couple weeks so you need to keep on top of the assignments."

"Yeah, but you and Kaiah are good study partners so I think I'll manage to pass." Naruto looked at Sakura over his shoulder as she finished tying up his bandage. "By the way, where is Kaiah?"

"I don't know. She's here one minute and then gone the next." Sakura said as she bit her thumb nail. "I'm a little worried about her, to tell you the truth."

"Yeah. Me too." Naruto admitted.

Over by the lake where she had seen Gara sitting on that faithful day, Kaiah was walking down the sidewalk trying to clear her head. When Naruto had finally opened up and explained everything, all at once everything in Kaiah's brain clicked and things were beginning to make sense, but it was giving her horrible headaches. She was feeling more anxious day by day and feeling her anxiety build she decided that everyone would be safer if she just kept her distance from them. She wasn't sleeping well and she felt like there was a black cloud looming in the distance, promising a hard and bloody battle ahead. Nothing she did made a difference, nothing relaxed her, which had her on edge because normally a good walk and some music or some target practice would unwind her, but none of it had been working. She felt like a bomb about to explode.

"In Matthew 11:28 he says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.""

Kaiah turned to find out where those English words and voices of "Amen" were coming from.

Kaiah rounded the corner, and to her amazement she saw what looked like a little white church, similar to the one she and her mother went to when she was a child. Its door was wide open and all the windows were thrown up and the sweet melody of a piano could be heard clearly.

She could hear more talking, and more choruses of "Amen", and she felt as if something was pulling her towards the little building.

Kaiah walked through the doors and took a seat on the back pew, giving her full attention to the medium sized man dressed in jeans and a white button down shirt, with a graying buzz cut who was currently speaking. She sat there for 30 minutes taking in everything he said, hearing about how God's prophets endured all the hardships that came upon them and how the Lord provided their every need and about how God loved everyone so much that he sent his son to this earth to die for all sins.

Kaiah began to feel all her anxiety flow out of her as she sat there and listened with her whole heart. As she listened she began to remember her mother sitting by her bed side at night, reading to her from her Bible and then singing her to sleep; she began to recall some of the stories that her mother had shared with her. All the memories and the preacher man's words began to work at her heart, and before Kaiah knew it she had silent tears running down her face.

Oh! How could she forget such sweet memories of her mother?

'Have I truly become such a monster?' Kaiah thought.

"As I conclude this evening service, feel free to come to the altar and talk with God and to share with him the concerns of your heart." The preacher man said.

What looked like to be about 20 people in the congregation, some who looked like they were from America and others who looked like they may have been Japanese, all began to exit their pews and make their way to the altar.

Kaiah could feel herself walk to the front as well, she felt like she was in a daze. As she knelt in front of the altar, she gripped her hands together and began to pour out her heart to God in a way that she hadn't since she was a little girl.

Finally she pleaded with God 'Dear Lord, please, I'm begging you, please please place your protection around Naruto! Dear God please don't let any harm come to him! If you'll just keep him safe, I promise this will be the last time! I don't want to do it anymore, I'll be happy to settle down here and help people instead! Please just keep him, and Sakura and Gara safe!'

As Kaiah cried out in her heart, she didn't notice all the other people in the congregation begin to leave and as they passed by, place a hand on her and say a brief prayer for her.

After spilling her guts, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up, only to find the preacher knelt beside her with his hand on her shoulder. He too then opened his green eyes to look at her and with a small smile he said "Just leave those worries here."

As Kaiah wiped her eyes, she too smiled "Thank you."

Kaiah was fascinated to see that the preacher was American as well. "What brought you all the way over here from America?"

"Well, when I was a Lieutenant in the Air Force, I was stationed here for 4 years, and I fell in love with the place." He replied.

"Really, a Lieutenant in the Air Force? Did you retire and decide to move here?"

"As a matter of fact, I met my wife in this little village. I'm retired from active duty, but I decided to come back and work as the dentist for the base here and I preach here on the side." He told her.

"Sounds really nice. I think I've decided to stay here too." She told him with a smile. "I feel so at home here."

"It's really a great place to live. The doors here are always open, so feel free to drop by anytime." He said.

"I appreciate that. I've been dealing with a lot at the moment and I don't know how things are going to work out." Kaiah said.

"Here." The preacher said as he reached in his pocket and fished out a gold chain that held a simple gold cross and placed it in Kaiah's hand. "I've been holding this for awhile, saving it for the right person. I've prayed that whoever should wear it would have protection and guidance."

Kaiah was speechless for a moment, then "Why me?"

"Because I see that same look in your eyes that I use to see in mine. I just pray that you find what you're looking for. I look forward to seeing you again." And with that he smiled and turned to walk out the door.

After staring at the necklace for a few minutes she placed it in the pocket of her black capri's, sent up another quick prayer and headed for home.

That simple trip had been what Kaiah needed. She felt like a burden had been lifted off of her shoulders, and this time she was able to walk into her temporary home that night without fear of exploding and hurting anyone.

"Kaiah!" Sakura shouted, and marched right up to her. Kaiah was a little taken back by the growl in her voice.

"Where on earth have you been taking off to?! Everyone's been worried sick!" she continued to shout, but this time it was accompanied with a punch in the shoulder.

"Sorry." Kaiah muttered. "I've just needed some time to myself to sort things out in my head. I didn't mean to worry you."

Sakura then looked at her with more worry. "Okay, what on earth has happened? Normally you would have punched me back while issuing threats."

Kaiah just smiled and said "I guess I've just seen the light."

'…'

Kaiah began laughing at her friend's confused face, while wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"It's gonna be okay." Kaiah said. "Right now, Naruto needs me to be strong and mentally stable, and I just had too many thoughts plaguing my mind, I was becoming a danger to everyone. I just had to be alone for a while to sort things out."

Sakura understood, everyone had their own way of dealing with the situation, and Kaiah just needed space.

"It's okay." She said. "However, you better go check up with Naruto, he's been really worried about you."

"Okay." Kaiah said, then ascended the stairs to Naruto's room, where she found him at his desk, chin resting in his hand as he twirled a pencil with his other hand, staring into space.

'Looks like the attempt to do homework was a failure.' Kaiah thought with a smirk.

Silently she walked up to him and put her arms around him in a hug.

"Kaiah!" he excitedly whispered when he discovered who was hugging him from behind.

Kaiah could see the relief wash across his face when he saw her.

Smiling, she let go of Naruto only to take his hand and pull him from his chair to the door.

"Let's go look at the stars." She said, making their way to 'their' spot.

Both smiling, no words needing to be exchanged but both understanding each other none the less, an understanding that could only be shared through a deep bond, they just sat and enjoyed the stars; Both knowing in their hearts, that a battle was looming over the horizon.

***OMG ya'll! I am so sorry for leaving this story hanging in the wind! I didn't realize how long it's been since I did anything with this story! Life's been pretty hectic for me though, full time job, going back to school part time, and hitting a writer's block. I've not been doing much in my spare time, but I did get caught up in Bleach during that spare time. I must say, awesome anime! Anyways, thank you to all that have been keeping up with my story, and all the new favs. I don't know when I'll be able to update again, a lot going on right now, but hopefully it won't be another two years *gulps and looks around nervously*. Again, thank you to all you faithful readers!**


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